The True Meaning of Value
by Pencilfreak17
Summary: Hinata is a shame to her family. Her birthright is now her sister's, and she's ran away to live a regretful life as a disowned Hyuuga. But when a group of gangsters harass her out in the streets, a stranger steps in to save her. Who is this man? Naruto Uzumaki! This is a NaruHina story, with a few other pairings related. Read on in Hinata's depressing but happy ending story!
1. Chapter 1: Worthless

**This is just another story I was sort of itching to make so that I sort of had two stories going on. This is what I sort of want to be a NaruHina thing, but I'm not so sure. I plan to bring in the other girl characters in later in the story, so don't freak out about 'OMG!? WHERE'S SAKURA?! AND WHAT ABOUT INO!? TENTEN!' and stuff like that. They will all come soon.**

**I want there to be a relationship between Sasuke and Hinata (I plan on something that I hope works out right), but I don't know if any of you guys out there would prefer any of the following:**

**NaruHina**

**NaruSaku**

**SasuHina**

**SasuSaku**

**Give me your opinion in reviews on which ones you'd prefer to read the most about, and depending on the majority of the reviews, I'll see where I'll lean to and consider the rest of the story.**

* * *

**Now to explain the story. Again, I can't do a very good job at recreating Kishimoto's awesome ninja world and I think I'd suck at it if I tried to anyway; so I wanted to go more along the lines of a family Korean drama that I remember watching a long time ago, that had issues with who would be the heir of this really big international Korean company and whatnot, so I thought, 'hey! wouldn't it be a really cool idea if Hinata's family was sort of changed into a high classed business managing legacy?' So I drafted and I liked it and here it is posted below. I also incorporated an interesting twist that I was going to use in a separate story unrelated to Fan fiction, but decided to sort of use it in here since it'd be more fun that way. And that twist is making Naruto and a few selected boys, to be 'gangsters' in this story. I thought of it because I wanted Sasuke's brother, Itachi, to be somehow associated with the Akatski in some way, so I thought it'd be easier to make the Akatski a group of gangsters. And I found it appealing to have Naruto and the other boys as gangsters as well, so there will be some gory and intense fighting in this story that I want to add in, so I've went ahead and rated it Rated M. (Just to be on the safe side if other teens of thirteen and above may or may not handle it, I'm not sure myself since I myself am in that category of age so I'm wondering if it's possible that someone as young as me can be writing Rated M content. Seems kind of weird isn't it? I might have to re-rate it to Rated T if it turns out to be less gruesome than I envisioned the story to be. Plus there are a lot of cursing involved since they ARE gangsters after all, but hopefully they don't bother you guys.)**

* * *

**So Hinata is the future heiress of the Hyuuga international company, but because she lacked in her capability to manage such a big company, her father gave up on her and gave her birth right as heir to her younger sister Hanabi. Shamed by her father and sister, Hinata sort of 'runs away' from home and seeks a more appealing life alone and away from her family where they wouldn't have to pity her and to save herself the humiliation from her father and sister's clear disappointments in her.**

**Living in the suburbs of the city in a quiet town, Hinata lives a regretful, guilty life as a writer, getting by her days with regulated pay and a caring landowner. But when she is harassed by a bunch of slutty creeps, Hinata is saved by a heroic figure. Who is this man? Uzumaki Naruto! Hinata, now introduced into meeting Naruto and his gang of misfits, Hinata begins her struggle to understand the true meaning of value and to find her self confidence as they help Hinata overcome her struggles.**

* * *

**So hopefully this story ends up being successful as well, I'm not sure how many will take interest in this story, but to those who will, I give you my happy virtual hugs to and thank yous for your time and effort to read my story and (if you do) posting reviews. Now enough of me talking (I bet you're SICK of author's notes) and let's GET TO THE FREAKING STORY! XD **

* * *

**Chapter 1: Worthless **

Hinata tugs at the hem of her sleeves nervously as she stood by her father's office door, having been called after dinner for a private talk. Hinata was almost tempted to bite her fingernails again; what did her father want now?

Only last week had her father discussed with Hinata her 'condition.'

"Your speech lacks composure and reassurance that will be vital for the employees around you. And your stutter! The WORST quality in your speech impediment! You need to work on being more persuasive instead of your compromising ways, honestly, it's good to be compromising, but in the business world, we need more persuasion. You need to grow up Hinata and try harder."

Hinata had nodded and sadly dropped her head.

"I-I'm trying father."

Her father shook his head disgusted as he looked back down at his newspaper.

"No you're not; not hard enough."

Hinata really did try though. Sometimes she wished her father actually took the time to notice rather than focusing all his attention on her younger sister, Hanabi. But she has never felt bitterness for her father or her sister; knowing regretfully that she has always been, lacking in many skills needed as future heiress of the business of the Hyuuga.

"Hinata! Come in."

Hinata shuddered at her father's booming voice. She opened the door quietly before entering; closing it shut behind her as she bowed respectfully.

"G-Good evening f-father …"

Her father was busy with his papers; however he addressed her without looking up.

"I thought I told you to work on that stutter of yours."

Hinata sadly frowned, her hands wringing her skirt in her hands.

"I-I'm sorry father. I-I'm trying."

Her father sighed, putting his glasses aside as he rubbed them, finally saying, "That's all you ever say. 'I'll try, I'll try.' Why is it that after all this time, you've STILL haven't improved?"

Hinata looked up at her father in surprise, finding new-found venom in her father's voice.

'_What have I done? I've done nothing to deserve this! I AM trying!'_

"But father-"

"I called you here because I thought it'd be only fair that I mentioned to you, that I've taken away your birth right and given it to Hanabi."

Hinata felt the world stop.

'_My birth right … taken away?'_

"H-Hanabi?"

Her father glared at her stuttering her sister's name.  
"Yes. You've failed to improve and show any signs of being capable of Chairman; Hanabi is now the successor because she is far more developed and talented. Unlike you, she knows all the procedures and proceedings of the business and has strong speech. Unfortunately for you Hinata, I don't feel any regret in doing all of this."

Hinata felt her blood stop, her father giving her the look – the look she had always feared – of disappointment.

"You're a disgrace to the family and you're a failure to the Hyuuga name; you are no longer needed as heiress."

Suddenly the door flew open as Hinata's mother came bustling in, grabbing Hinata away from her father in surprise.

"Hiashi! That was too harsh, she's still your daughter-"

"Impetuous woman, who gave you permission to enter my office?! Get out! And take her with you; I've seen enough of her face this evening."

Hinata's mother fell silent, simply standing there with Hinata, squeezing her daughter's shoulders as the two stared at Hiashi, who had resumed his work. Hinata wanted to cry; but felt no tears come. All she felt was a rush of disappointment and sadness; she had failed her own father more than she had failed her family. Now she realized how worthless she had become despite all these years of trying … nothing was able to change her worthlessness.

Hinata was led out the office by her mother's gentle hands, outside the door, Hinata was confronted by her sister. Hanabi's expression was unsympathetic towards her older sister.

"Hinata, though it makes me – in the slightest – disappointed to say this, I agree with father."

Their mother rebuked Hanabi, "Now Hanabi! Be kind to your sister! You are in no place to say such things to her-"

"Father has always liked me better. I don't blame him; I am better than Hinata. Hinata is too kind and compromising to be able to handle the business world anyway. If she can't learn to be demanding and ruthless in the business managing, she's better off being a housewife, like you mother; to bring up children like me into the family."

Hinata felt her sister's words cut her, leaving her mother feeling slapped with the insult that went both ways.

"H-Hanabi! How disrespectful of you!"

Hanabi smirked at her sister's unchanging expression of sadness.

"You'd be better off as a housewife."

After her sister's outburst, her mother had sent her into her own room, coming back to Hinata sympathetically.

"Hinata, honey, it's alright. Even if your father and sister don't appreciate you as much as they used to, understand that they still love you; we're all family."

Hinata understood what her mother said.

That was why she left.

In the middle of the night, Hinata had taken her belongings and left her home; without taking a second look behind her, she left the house full of remorse and regret in bringing Hinata up under the Hyuuga name. To relieve her mother the obligation to comfort her, to satisfy her father and sister, and to escape the eyes of the gossiping household servants, Hinata left to leave all her troubles and guilt behind with her family name. She decided it was for the best; and for her family. After all, what was easier to get rid of a weed, than taking it out by its roots? That was exactly what she did for the sake of her family.

* * *

**_Five years later …_**

* * *

Hinata gloomily sat at her bed watching her clock tick away; until it was finally, December 27th.

"Happy birthday … to me."

Hinata fell back on her bed sighing, staring up at the ceiling as night continued outside her window. For as long as she remembered, she had ran away from her home and managed to find a place for herself at the far suburbs of the city; finding refuge with a friendly landowner, Kurenai Yuhi. Kurenai was kind enough to understand her background issues and let her into living in her own household; with a small fee upon Hinata's insistence - she didn't want to be a freeloader. Ever since leaving her family's household, she has tried living on her own.

She eventually took up a career where she wouldn't be needed outside of her room; as a writer.

Ironically, where she lacked in speech, she made up for talented writing; a talent she had never shown her family.

Kurenai, who has always read her books – for whatever reason have been unanimously published by the group of publishers she had confronted for the first time – has always complimented Hinata on her 'wonderful insight'. Hinata wondered if what Kurenai said was out of sympathy or genuine honesty.

Hinata rolled on her stomach as she perched her chin on her arms, sighing as she watched the clock slowly ticked away to 1:00 AM.

Unable to sleep, Hinata rose from her bed and stood over her desk; littered with paper and pencils, Hinata had never had the time to tidy her desk space up. She decided it'd be a good time now.

She cleared scraps and unwanted sheets of paper into the trash bin as she sorted through her pencils before throwing one pile away and the other stuck back in her canister of pencils. When she finished she sat down at her desk, pulled up her laptop, and rechecked her email.

Kurenai had left the house on a vacation with her husband Asuma and left Hinata in care of the house; fully trusting her to keep the household regulated as a surrogate daughter of hers.

Hinata clicked on a new email reading, '_Hinata! Asuma and I are having a safe and fun trip, please don't worry about us and take care of the house! (I trust you un-doubtfully that you'll do just that!) Also, don't you think I've forgotten about your birthday young lady; happy twenty first birthday! (When I come home, I'll be having a surprise for you. :D ) Love, Kurenai'_

Hinata replied with a short and respective answer, assuring Kurenai she would keep the house tidy and clean and her appreciations for Kurenai bothering to remember her birthday; she really did appreciate it, she bothered to remember something so troublesome.

Hinata went through her emails, trashing a few and archiving the others, reading recent updates from her editors and publishers on her latest work, the clock eventually turning into three in the morning. Hinata then decided for a snack, unable to ignore the empty, pitted feeling in her stomach, and closed her laptop and heading downstairs.

She was always careful never to come downstairs unless it was for food and or when she left the house. She never wanted to interrupt Kurenai's life that mainly existed downstairs, she didn't want to be more of a bother than she already was (though Kurenai has insistently told her she wasn't bothersome).

But now that Kurenai was out of the house, Hinata came down regularly to keep the house in order; she brought in the mail every morning and placed it in a box by Kurenai's desk untouched and kept sealed (she was NEVER a nosy person). She watered the plants, kept up with the laundry, dusted the house, cooked herself meals, and did the little things that Hinata knew what Hanabi would call 'housewife chores.'

Hinata came downstairs and entered the kitchen, making sure the blinds were pulled over in the living room's expansive glass window, before opening the refrigerator for something to eat.

Hinata frowned as she realized there was almost nothing left, save for three eggs, a block of cheese, and a bag of spinach and other condiments unsuitable for eating without the other main condiments that went with them. Hinata pulled out a notepad from her jacket's pocket and scribbled, '_Grocery shopping' _as her main priority later in the day. Hinata grabbed the last yogurt out of the fridge before closing it shut, settling to scrape the container clean of yogurt up in her room typing her story's draft for the rest of the early morning.

* * *

When morning grew brighter outdoors, Hinata decided it would be best to go grocery shopping now. She changed into fresher clothes and combed her hair before slipping into her shoes, grabbing her bag and leaving the house.

The roads were wide enough for walkers and vehicles to share, neither groups hogging the roads at any time. Hinata loved the outdoors, wishing that she had the confidence to spend more of her time outside in such beautiful weather like today; open skies, and a bright sun with a cool natural breeze – it was all so serene and beautiful at the same time.

Hinata walked all the way to the nearest market, counting her money and judging what she should buy based on her tight budget. Though Kurenai had left her money for her use like instances like this, Hinata decided to simply use her own money – she didn't want to leech off Kurenai like she already was by living in her upstairs.

Hinata entered a bustling street market, stands opened as local families and individuals came to buy whatever it was they needed; luckily for most of the local inhabitants, the market was directly next to the harbor of the ocean, where fresh fish was always ready for sale.

Hinata carefully picked her way through the crowds and occasionally buying few items off stands along the way. Over time, Hinata grew gradually aware that she kept seeing a certain group of men following her consistently. Hinata hoped they would break away in the other direction, but whenever she stopped, they stopped. And whenever she took a wild turn in the other direction, they always doubled back and found her again. Hinata grew worried, but decided not to let it bother her until they showed signs of aggression.

Hinata found her favorite fruit stand and greeting the old woman who ran the stand, the old woman happy to see one of her favorite customers.

"Oh! Oh my, my, Hinata! My, are you a sight for sore eyes this fine morning!"

"G-Good morning, I've come for the u-usual, m-ma'am."

The old woman smiled at her before filling a bag of apples and oranges; then she handed them to Hinata who held out the money.

The old grandma took Hinata's hand and curled it around the money.  
"Now, now, take that money back into your wallet – no need to waste it on an old senile woman like me! I'm the one closer to death than you missy! I have no use of money like this."

Hinata blinked in surprise.

"B-But y-you need money to s-support yourself and y-your husband!"

The old grandma laughed wildly at Hinata's concern.

"My, my! I never saw such concern for my well being since my son died! No child, my family is fine. Let me remind you that my husband is a well known fisherman around these parts; one of the finest out of all the others! His hard work and labor is enough to set fresh fish on the table every day – heh, heh, heh, heh!"

The old grandma waved dismissively in the air.

"Anyway, besides my point, you need the money more than I do. You're still renting from that Kurenai?"

Hinata nodded. The old grandma smiled.

"Good woman, that Kurenai. Good thing you found her over a few unspeakable others in these parts; leeches and backstabbers they are. Kurenai is a good woman though, very kind to all her lodgers. How's your writing doing you?"  
Hinata smiled, pulling out a copy of her book from her bag.

"Oh y-yes, I f-forgot to tell you last time. I m-managed to go up to the p-publishers like you told me to, and t-they liked it. They immediately went out and published it, b-but I n-never had t-time to bring a copy of my favorite to y-you."

The old grandma took the book and smiled at the cover, reading the title with narrowed eyes.

"'_The Insights of Compassion'. _Dear me, you write books on philosophy? How convenient; I love books like this! Though sadly for me, my eye sight is running away from me and I can hardly read as much as I could've now! Ha ha ha ha, how time flies."

The old woman smiled at Hinata as she hugged the book to her chest.

"Now Hinata dear, thank you for the book, I promise you that I'll finish it soon so I can talk to you about it, I've always loved your writing. I really didn't deserve a free copy …"

Hinata smiled, shyly rocking on her heels.

"N-No! O-Of course you d-deserved a copy! I owe you s-so much, you've always been e-encouraging me and p-pushing me forward when I l-lacked c-confidence. I'm always grateful for your e-efforts."

The old woman smiled again, slipping the book for safekeeping into her own bag, grinning at Hinata knowingly, "Now, now, all you needed was a little push now and then. Such a bright, honest and beautiful young lady like yourself should have more confidence and pride! But don't worry about it Hinata; confidence comes all in due time. As my great grandmother always told me, '_confidence is built upon the foundation of support of those around you.' _When others inspire you, confidence will come naturally to you to your goals – don't let others weight you down! Find those good people who will support you and cheer you all the way through! Confidence comes with their support; it's nice how that works out don't you think?"

Hinata smiled, a finger at her lip as she took mental note of the interesting quote – ironically enough, she was writing her next book on '_The Insights of Value'_ and one section was widely focused on confidence; which she was struggling with since she couldn't relate to it in anyway. But this interesting quote was something to consider while writing, it might actually help her.

"Thank you. I-I think I'll r-remember that from n-now on."

After waving goodbye and leaving with her groceries (the old woman still stubbornly insisted that Hinata kept her money, declaring the unpaid fruits was her 'birthday gift' as she remembered it was that time of year, the old woman was too kind to Hinata that she almost cried) she headed back home.

She struggled down the road to carry her burdensome load, and she found to her relief, the men no longer in sight. She walked down happily towards Kurenai's home before suddenly confronted by the same men she had thought was long gone.

"Hello ma'am, care if I help you with your load?"  
Hinata shouldered her bags and looked around at the small ringlet of men that had stood around her, blocking her from walking any further.

"Um, n-no, t-thank y-you. I can d-deal with it m-myself-"

The tallest shot out a hand and grabbed her wrist, giving her a disfigured grin.

"Come now, we're just a few humble honest men just wanting to help out a poor woman like yourself. Here, slide a few bags our way and we'll walk you home."

Hinata jerked her wrist, trying to pull away from the man.

"P-please, there's n-no need for you to h-help. I'm p-perfectly capable of g-getting home m-myself-"

He tightened his grip on Hinata before nodding to his fellow mates to take the bags out of her hands; even after her bags were taken, the man made no move to release her.

"P-Please let go, you're hurting me!"

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Let's just get to this house of yours and maybe we can all have a sit down chat with tea, do you like tea?"

Hinata felt a flurry of panic rise as the man pulled her closer, grinning at her as she squirmed in his grip.

"_Oh no, please, someone, anyone! Please get this man away from me!'_

"Now there's no need to look frightened, we just want to get better acquainted with a beautiful maiden as yourself. Tell us, what is our name?"

"Let go!"

"Seriously, stop trying to-"

Suddenly the man's grip was released on her grip, she was pushed backwards and she fell on the ground on her back, looking up to see a stranger standing in front of her with the other man in his strong grip. The other man's wrist was clenched in the newcomer's grip, the group suddenly very intimidated by the man's appearance.

"I believe she kindly asked you to let her go."

* * *

Hinata blinked in surprise at the man's voice; clear and strong, full of venom as he twisted his grip on the man's wrist.

The man nervously laughed.

"Eh, heh, heh, ha! Y-You're that new punk in town huh?! I-I bet you don't know who you're messing with right now Blondie!"

The eyes of the newcomer darkened into a deeper shade of blue, his grip suddenly twisted violently to one side, the sound of the man's wrist snapping crackling in the ears of the others around him and to Hinata. She shivered as she scooted a bit backwards.

'_What monstrous strength! He barely even moved to do that!'_

The man screamed as he bent down on the ground clutching his broken wrist, sobbing to himself as the man glowered over him.  
"I'm sick of dirty, slutty trash like you guys. Unlike your lame gang here, at least mine has the decency to have RESPECT to girls."

The man hissed a curse at him, "Why you f*cking b*tch, I'll cut your face apart and- AUGH!"

The newcomer slammed his foot into his gut, making the man to cough spit as he groaned in agony at the sore in his stomach and the pain in his wrist.

"Shut up already, there's really no need to make this a bigger scene than it already is."

A small group of spectators have formed around Hinata and her little hero, the gangsters cursing at him.  
"F*CK YOU! YOU DARE HURT OUR LEADER?! WE'LL SHOW YOU OUR FRIGHTENING STRENGTH! YOU'LL REGRET MESSING WITH US BRAT! LET'S GET HIM!"

As the rest of the gangsters rushed in at the man at once, he slid into stance before quickly wiping them out; snapping a few limbs here and there and viciously punching and kicking them senseless – at the end, they all were sprawled across the road in their own blood moaning in agony, not a single scratch on the man who had saved Hinata.

Stunned and in slight fear at the man who had saved her, she was reluctant to take his hand when he offered it to her to help her back to her feet.

"Are you alright? You must've had quite the scare back there, can you get to your feet? Sorry I pushed you back earlier, it was necessary. Here, take my hand and I'll help you up."

Hinata stared at his hand uncertainly, the on watching spectators too busy videotaping the scene to be interested in what they were conversing.

The man eyed Hinata oddly before standing with his hands shoved in his pockets, giving her an apologetic grin.  
"Ah, sorry. You must be in shock. After all, a random stranger helping you while another group of strangers were trying to harass you prior to my coming, let me introduce myself, just to be nice."

Hinata stared at the blond haired man, his grin big and goofy – something completely contrary to the man she saw earlier dripping with venom and anger.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you, what's your name?"  
Hinata kept silent, shell shocked by his open character and genuine concern.

He frowned at her a bit confused.

"Hey, did you just hear what I said? My name is Uzumaki Naruto: U-zu-ma-ki, Na-ru-to. Hey, are you listening?"

Then becoming extremely overwhelmed by the suddenness of this man, Hinata fainted.

"What the – hey! Miss! Are you alright?! Why the hell did you just faint?!"

* * *

When Hinata regained conscious, she found herself back home. Lying in her bed she sat up wondering if it was all really a dream – that is until she saw him sitting by her bed side. He smiled at her as she looked at him in surprise, his hand up in greeting.

"Yo! You're back!"

Hinata flustered, unsure of what to say and where to begin with, and finally settled on just stammering, "W-What, w-why, h-how?! -"

He grinned again before leaning back in his chair stating, "Oh, you fainted back there at our little scene on the road. I asked anyone if they knew you, and someone was kind enough to tell me that you lived here. It took me a while to hack the lock on the door, but I got through eventually. Sorry for intruding."

Hinata stared at him as he sat there grinning like it was perfectly normal; this person obviously didn't understand the extremities of Hinata's discomfort with him – being a complete stranger and having just met her - breaking into her landowner's house.

"I-I, u-uh, w-well-"

"Oh! That reminds me, you didn't tell me your name, what's your name?"  
Hinata flustered again, unable to fight the knots in her tongue.

"H-H-Hinata."

He grinned.

"Hinata? Cute name. You remember mine right? Uzumaki Naruto."  
When she didn't answer back quickly enough, he added in quickly, "U-zu-ma-ki, Na-ru-to. Say it."

Hinata stammered, "U-Uzu-"

He shook his head.

"No, no, Uzu, not U-Uzu. Try again."

Hinata blushed in embarrassment, unsure of how to explain this to him.

"Um, I-I have s-slight s-stuttering p-problems-"  
"Come on! Try again!"

Hinata bit her bottom lip before attempting once more.

"U-Uzuma-ki .. N-N-Naru-to …"

He stared at her for a moment in silence, then he stated, "You really do have stuttering issues don't you?"  
Hinata blushed in embarrassment, waiting for his next words to be something like, "_Well that stinks." _Or, "_Got any help on fixing it?"_

But he simply grinned idiotically saying, "Heh-heh, you're funny. I like you. With or without that stutter, you're kind of cute. "

Hinata blushed, this time because he had called her cute, and that he liked her …

"Oh, and by the way, the groceries the gangsters were holding? I assumed they were yours and brought them back here with you; I doubt those men shopped it themselves, I should know, I'm a gangster myself."

Hinata blinked in surprise as Naruto grinned at her, this person was a gangster? She didn't doubt it, his superior skills in bringing down those gangsters earlier was clear evidence, but he was just so … well, too kind and well dressed to be one. Hinata then remembered the time he had protected her from the gangsters – the dark expression on his face as he venomously confronted them with little mercy to begin with; perhaps he had a darker side to him she didn't know about.

Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head apologetically, "Sorry, is this gangster news frightening you? Trust me, I'm not a bad gangster. I'm one of the good guys, I swear."

Hinata nodded, trying to speak as little as possible because her tongue was tied up currently.

He looked around her room before smiling, "By the way, nice place you got here. You live alone?"  
Hinata wondered if his question was on the nosy side or simply for the sake of a conversation, and concluded it was simply just a question, nothing more and nothing less.

"U-Um, y-yes and n-no. I l-live on m-my own, b-but m-my landowner l-lives here t-too, so y-you could say that I-I live with h-her."

Naruto thought on it before his face brightened as he stated, "Ah! Is she Kurenai?"  
Hinata blinked in surprise, nodding.

Naruto laughed, "Ah, I know her. I have a friend whose close with her husband, she's a good person."

Hinata smiled slightly.  
"I-I know t-that already."

Naruto nodded, the two falling into awkward silence, Naruto looking around for another subject to touch up on when the door opened to reveal another stranger.

"Hey Naruto, hurry up so we can go already. I'm bored."

Naruto grinned cheekily at the slackly dressed man.

"Heh-heh, more like you're ready to meet up with your girlfriend Temari."

He blushed before mumbling with his eyes casted to the side, "Shut up Naruto. Now hurry up and let's go already. Choji is about to raid the freaking fridge; I doubt Kurenai is going to like that."  
Hinata pointed at him warily, a bit pale to imagine ANOTHER man was in her household.

"W-Who is h-he?"

Naruto glanced between the two before laughing, slapping his knee as exclaimed, "Oh, right! I forgot! I didn't tell you that I brought my gang to help me out. I couldn't exactly carry you AND your groceries at the same time, so I had to bring a few helping hands."  
He jabbed a thumb at the bored looking man who had stuck his hands in his pockets lazily looking at one of the paintings Hinata painted and hung on the wall behind her.

"This is the guy, whom I told you earlier about, that's well acquainted with Asuma and Kurenai, so don't freak out too much about him being here. His name is Nara Shikamaru, he's a piece of lazy sh*t, but nonetheless, he's of vital use in my gang. To be honest, out of all the guys in my group, he's the one I trust the most."

Shikamaru smirked.

"Really now? What about Sasuke? You trust him pretty well."

Naruto shrugged.

"Sure I do. But that b*tch keeps annoying me more and more lately, it pisses me off."

Shikamaru kept the smirk on his face.

"More like you're jealous that he acts WAY cooler than you do and has a few girls out there he's well acquainted with-"

Naruto grabbed one of Hinata's pillows ("sorry Hinata, let me borrow this") and chucked it at Shikamaru's head, a sour look on his face.

"Oh shut up Shikamaru! Who cares how many girls he's hooked up with?! Who CARES if he's better looking than me?! WHO CARES?!"

Shikamaru laughed as he plucked the pillow off the floor, dusted it, and handed it back to Hinata respectfully.

"Sorry about this dope here, he can be a really sensitive kind of a guy sometimes."

Hinata blushed, clutching the pillow to her chest as she watched the two boys smirk at one another.

"Um, i-it's fine."

The door creaked open again as a very large man poked his head in through the door.

"Hey now, can we go? I'm starving and it's killing me that the refrigerator is just sitting there TAUNTING ME. Naruto, can we pleeeease get on the move?"

Naruto waved him inside Hinata's room enthusiastically, completely ignoring his plea.

"Hey, Choji! Come in here and meet Hinata! She's awake now!"

Hinata hid part of her face in her pillow – her eyes peeking over the edge to watch the bulky man squeeze through her small door and greet her with a genuine smile.  
"Oh, right, hello Miss. Hinata. Sorry for intruding and almost eating your groceries; good thing Shikamaru was there to stop me."

Hinata nodded, a bit pink at the sight of the third man.

"Y-yes, all if forgiven."

The door slammed open as a blur of green smashed into her bookshelf, shaking the books to where they hit the floor, the man who entered looking wildly around in shock.  
"WHERE ARE THEY!? MY FRIENDS; THEY ALL DISAPPEARED BEFORE MY SIGHT AND I GREATLY FEAR THAT THE ENEMY HAS SOMEHOW APPREHENDED THEM – oh! My friends! You're all here, safe and in one piece – what a relief."

Hinata buried her face in the pillow, unable to look at the man who was dressed in a tight green leotard – it was an embarrassing sight and she didn't want to bother looking at his face.

"Hey Lee! You could've come in here with less noise? Hinata just woke up and you barging in isn't going to help her."

Lee saluted Naruto as he boldly announced, "Forgive me Naruto! I was driven by the urgency to find my missing friends who have walked away behind my back, and for that purpose I came running in here to save my friends that I assumed were under captivity; I'm sorry for running in so wildly; forgive me Naruto!"

Naruto snorted, pointing at Hinata who was hiding her face in her pillow.  
"Don't say it to me, say it to her."

Lee looked up at where he pointed and blinked.

"Oh, I knew that. Um, what I said earlier, let that apply to you as well Miss. – Hinata was it?"

Hinata nodded, saying a muffled 'it's alright' through the pillow.

"Geez, what's going on in here? Why is the book shelf set on its edge?"

Hinata recognized the sharp prick in the voice she heard, she looked up and saw a familiar (though almost long forgotten) face of her long lost cousin.

"N-Neji!"

He looked at Hinata with surprise before asking in a surprised manner himself, "H-Hinata? What are you doing here?! You should be home!"

Hinata kicked the sheets back before jumping up to hug her cousin, he who was still in disbelief; but held her in his arms wistfully.

"I thought I'd never see you again!"

Naruto eyed the two.

"Neji, you know Hinata?"

Neji nodded over her shoulder.

"Yeah, she's my cousin."  
Shikamaru made a funny expression.

"Cousin?"

Choji popped a candy in his mouth as he regarded them thoughtfully, "Hmm. They do look alike – the same lavender eyes and long hair – I'm not surprised you two are related."

Naruto sported a grin.

"Nice! Cousins!"

Lee pumped his fist in the air.

"Ah! What a sight! The lovely reunion of family members! Such a youthful sight indeed!"

Neji pulled back and looked at Hinata overall, asking her with concern, "Are you alright? I wouldn't have dreamed that the girl Naruto said needed help would turn out to be you Hinata; those filthy b*stards didn't hurt you back there right?"

Hinata nodded, smiling as her cousin's concern.

"Don't worry, I-I'm fine. N-Naruto there s-saved me."

Neji looked at Naruto for a moment, then he spoke, "Naruto, I guess I owe you a favor now. Thanks for saving Hinata."

Naruto blinked in surprise before grinning widely.

"Wow! What an interesting day; I actually got a favor secured from Neji!"

"Who got who's favor?"

Two others entered the room, one with messily cut brown hair, the other with carefully spiked black hair pulled back behind his head.

Naruto waved the two over.

"Hey Kiba, Sasuke! Come here and meet Neji's cousin!"

Kiba blinked in surprise, whistling as he exclaimed in surprise, "Whoa! She's Neji's cousin! Sweet!"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows in a quizzical expression.

"Neji's cousin?"

Shikamaru pointed to Hinata with a jerk of his head, Sasuke's eyes following his direction until it fell on Hinata. He narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to her, leaning close to her face as he inspected her closely. She shrunk back away as Sasuke stayed that way, his eyes staying glued to her face.

His facial expression was cold and blank – his own eyes interrogated her without words, a silent, cruel demeanor noted behind his dark eyes. He then stood up straight, leaning back away from her as he stuck his hands into the pockets of his hooded jacket.

"Hmm. You're the Hyuuga heiress aren't you?"

Hinata blinked in surprise, the other boys gasping in shock.

Naruto clung to the chair, forcing it to fall back on all fours as he exclaimed in awe, "Whoa! You're the heiress of that top shot business?! So cool!"

Lee tapped his chin thoughtfully as he nodded, "Indeed, this is be plausible news. Her quiet and respectful manner explains it; no wonder she was raised in such a high classed household."

Choji jumped up and down excitedly, (surprisingly enough he could do even jump), "Oh! Oh! That business branch that has thousands of snack companies?! Mmmm! I love the Hyuuga cooperation!"

Shikamaru sighed, rubbing the back of his neck lazily.

"Eh? That big shot company? Eesh, just thinking about the word 'business' is making my head hurt …"

Kiba pointed at Neji bluntly as he asked, "Hey, Neji, aren't you part of the Hyuuga family too? So technically, you're a part of the cooperation."

Neji frowned, shaking his head.

"No Kiba, unlike Hinata here, I wasn't born into the main family. I'm her father's brother's son; therefore I wasn't able to become heir. But Hinata did, so therefore she'll be taking over the company and-"

"I'm not the heiress anymore."

The boys all blinked in surprise. Sasuke however, narrowed his eyes as he asked suspiciously, "And why is that?"

Hinata looked at Sasuke with her father's disappointment reflecting in her eyes.

"My father took away my birth right and gave it to my younger sister, Hanabi. He called me useless, a failure, and no longer needed in the family because I lacked strong speech, capability in business management, and confidence."

Neji shook his head, distraught by her words.

"He took away your birth right to give to Hanabi?! That's … that's just not fair! You're the eldest! You have every right to be heiress!"

Hinata shrugged, sighing to herself.

"I-I don't think so. I-I made m-my father d-disappointed in m-me. Not to mention Hanabi h-herself, told me o-off that I was better off being a h-housew-wife-"

"Bullsh*t."

Everyone looked at Naruto, who glared menacingly at the carpet.

Shikamaru placed a concerned hand on his shoulder.

"You alright man?"

Naruto glared up at him.  
"I'm saying that this crap Hinata's family told her; it's nothing but a bunch of bullsh*t crap!"

Kiba held his hands up in a reassuring gesture, telling him to cool down.

"Hey, hey Naruto! Calm it down man, tone it! We wouldn't want you to freak out in Hinata's room."

Naruto clenched his fingers into Hinata's chair, digging into the wood to where they left deep marks into the wood.

"People who tell others that they're worthless and unneeded; they're nothing but a bunch of sh*tty people who don't understand the true value of that person."

Hinata blinked at his words.

"H-Huh? I d-don't get what y-you're saying N-Naruto-"

He looked at her straight in the eye, firmly stating to her, "Listen, all that crap your father and sister told you, next time you meet them, tell them to shove it all back up their asses. Pieces of sh*ts like them don't deserve to be part of the Hyuuga business."

The boys grimaced and a few whistled, looking away as Hinata was left riveted in Naruto's glare; locking her in his grip.

"You seem smart. You're honest, and you're kind. Even if you had a confidence issue and a stutter in your speech, that doesn't make you any less in value in comparison to your sister. If you know anything about value, I'd say you're worth more than her."

Hinata shook her head, confused by Naruto's point; how could she be of more value than her sister who clearly was more talented and skilled than her?

"H-how is that possible? S-She's more s-skilled than me and I-I'm just-"

"You're a brilliant person. I can tell you're compromising by the way you tried to talk the men out of harassing you. Other girls would've shouted or cursed at them, kicking them or beating at their hands; but you managed to keep your emotions in check and stay calm under their pressure, eventually able to ask them to stop. That just proves that you're good under pressure. I bet there's TONS of other good qualities about you that make you a good heiress of the Hyuuga Company; like your sister. Maybe she has more notable talents, but who gives a d*mn about that?! When it comes to businesses, I believe it's all about the effectiveness of the connection between chairman and his or her subordinates. If she lacks the compassionate heart you have, I doubt she'd be a well respected president of the Hyuuga Company."  
Sasuke snorted, drawing everyone's attention back to him.  
"I hate to contradict you Naruto, but not all of that is true."

Naruto narrowed his gaze at Sasuke who turned to smirk at him.

"When it comes to major businesses like the Hyuuga, they're strict families. They have to raise their future sons and daughters to be business like in order to be prepared in the latter future as successors, to keep the business alive and in the family tradition."

He kept the smirk on his face as he added, "So naturally, it's more about quality over quantity; even if you have all these talents, if they don't best suit for business management, like the ability to powerful, influential, and persuasive speech, full confidence in themselves and the company, and good relations with their employees around them, they cannot be suitable as heir or heiress."  
Naruto almost rose out of his seat, tempted to punch him in the face, but Shikamaru and Kiba each placed a hand on both of Naruto's shoulders and gently pushed him back down his seat, careful not to let Naruto fly off his spinning top.

"Naturally her father would disown her because she lacked these vital skills, therefore she'd either have to contribute to the family by becoming a housewife and marry another man into the family and give birth to smart, and talented young men to be future heirs, or work with the lower branches of the company just for the sake of the family's name."

Sasuke's grin slowly faded.

"It's hard to kick out a family member they don't like; it'd leak out to the public and news reporters would make up rumors and start gossiping about how the family leading the company are such evil people for disowning a family member. How they managed to do this to you is a surprise to me."

Hinata was surprised at how much he knew. Who was this guy?

Naruto waved dismissively in the air, snorting at his words.

"You and your know-it-all-ness in business managing. Freaking Uchiha …"

Hinata gasped at the mention of the name.  
"U-Uchiha?! You're saying that h-he's a U-Uchiha?!"

He gave Hinata a smirk.

"What? Find that hard to believe?"

Hinata fell silent before mumbling, "I-I thought they were a-all k-killed when I h-heard the news a-about the m-mass murdering of the U-Uchiha family …"

Sasuke crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed as he glared holes into the carpet floor.

"Yeah right, the whole crap posted on the media that day was all sh*t; they don't know what REALLY happened. My own brother killed everyone in the family because my father passed his birthright to me as heir – he did that because he was suspicious of my older brother being in league with a competing long lasting enemy of ours, another company now unknown. He got mad and killed my family; but he couldn't bring himself to kill me because he genuinely cared for me – even if I took away his birthright."

Hinata looked around the room, seeing the grim expressions on their faces as to what Hinata concluded that they had heard this story a few times already.

"O-Oh … I-I'm sorry …"

Sasuke smirked, smiling almost insanely as he crossed his arms, his jacket pulled back slightly to reveal a tattoo on his neck.

"Heh, don't be. I must say, I need to thank him some day; thank him for opening my eyes to what life really was like. I'll thank him … before I kill him."

Hinata shivered as Neji patted her comfortingly on the back.

"It's alright Hinata; he's been bent on revenge for quite a while now, it's quite normal that he's like this."

Kiba nods as he sported a grin.

"Yeah, yeah, he's always been the cold, dreary type."

Naruto smiled.

"Sasuke is just a huge sadist, don't be scared of him, it's natural for him."

Sasuke glared at Naruto, his eyes cold but a smile on his lips. It was odd seeing that expression; it was like trying to mix oil with water – the two parts of his expression clashing against one another that brought its eerie and frightening affect.

"Shut up dobe."

Shikamaru cleared his throat, stopping the two from getting any more caught up in their heated hostility/bickering with one another.

"Uh, I hate to interrupt, but Naruto, I do believe we need to go now? Hinata seems a bit pale just by having all of us here in her room at once."

Naruto glanced at Hinata, who DID seem quite pale, nodded and stood up from her chair, bowing his head slightly in an apologetic gesture to Hinata.

"Right, sorry that I brought all my friends in here, but at least you got to see your cousin, right?"

Hinata smiled at Naruto.

"Y-Yes. T-Thank you N-Naruto."

He smiled at her genuinely.

"Don't mention it. Come one guys! Time to move on out!"

The boys shuffled out of the room, Shikamaru chasing after Choji and Lee who were all very eager to leave (each for their own reasons) the house. Naruto and Sasuke made a move to leave with Neji, who quickly grabbed Hinata's hands in his as he stated, "Hinata, we'll talk more about your … issues later. I'll come by next time to visit you again. You're not planning on going anywhere, right?"

Hinata nodded, Neji squeezing her hands with concern.

"Okay then, good. Eat well, sleep well; and for God's sake, stay safe? You were lucky today; Naruto was there to save you."

Hinata nodded, smiling at the blond over his shoulder, who in return smiled back.

"I know."

Sasuke gave Hinata a wary expression before ducking out the door, Neji quickly followed and Naruto waved at her happily.

"Bye Hinata! Sorry again for intruding and scaring you, I hope you sleep well tonight and like Neji said; watch yourself."

Hinata smiled, giving him a shy wave.

"Okay. Come back soon."

'_What? Why did I just … say that?'_

Naruto smiled, apparently pleased to be invited back.

"We will, oh and Hinata?"

She looked at him questionably.

"Um, yes?"

He grinned at her.

"Your speech is improving."

* * *

**I sort of feel bad for making Hanabi sound like a h*ll of a b*tchy sister to Hinata; I'm sure in the real story, she's nothing like that. But just to get the affect so that you guys will be like' wtf is this chick's problem?! why is she dissing off Hinata like that?! gurl~!' (Sorry if I offended you by using these slang terms, or whatever you call them, I am not using them to offend anyone, I'm just trying to make my point that I want you guys to be mad about Hanabi's arrogance in this particular story of mine.) **

**But besides Hanabi's arrogance, I'm also particularly interested in your opinions on Hinata's stutter. She's known for being shy and quiet; and always one to stutter quite frequently, but I feel like I have her stutter TOO frequently in this story. Do you think I should tone it down a bit? But I kinda don't want to since I want it to be an obstacle she has to jump over; so like, gradually as she spends more time with Naruto and the others, her stutter will cease to exist. This IS a story about her gaining confidence and (don't worry) her relationship with Naruto, but I don't want to drag out the story by her (I kinda find it annoying) stuttering all the time. I'm not quite sure what to go for. Leave me a few words in the reviews with your personal opinions.**

**Btw, if there are some errors, or sentences in here that seem off, like, spelling or grammar wise, I'm sorry. I'm doing this at the dead of night and I'm exhausted. And if you've read my profile, you'd know I've mentioned somewhere in there that I have bad grammar. So sorry if I end up irritating you guys that are sensitive to grammar. (I am too, ironically, but I usually get mad at myself because I'm the one with terrible grammar.) Anyway, sorry for my long notes and always, always, ALWAYS remember, that you don't have to feel obliged to read these notes. I just put them out so I can share my thoughts with you and clear up some confusion in the story. Any other questions can be asked through the reviews, and I'll PM you to answer them. Thank you again for your wonderful time and effort - I really don't care if no one is going to bother reading this drama/family issues/gangster story, but I personally find it cool, so maybe you guys will too - and I hope to see you guys at the very end of the story. I'm not sure how long I might make this, but I'm aiming around maybe fifteen or twenty chapters and above. Anyway, let me shut up now so you can stop reading my prattling crap. Sorry. **


	2. Chapter 2: Visits

**Yay! I'm getting SOOO many reviews and likes for this story! I'm glad to know that so many of you are liking this story, and thank you so much for bothering to read this story, though I sometimes lack proper sentence structure and not to mention my problem with grammar. (Using spell check and sentence fixing more often now, lol XD ) **

**Anyway, thank you for all the reviews and I can't express how excited I am to continue this story for you guys! After reading all your reviews, I see that unanimously, everyone is asking for NaruHina. Though a few are asking for SasuSaku, I can guarantee that this will be a NaruHina story! :D Also, many of you have already expressed how you would prefer not to have a single SasuHina moment in this story, and I was thinking about making them simply friends later in the story anyway, so that it wouldn't get into one of those annoying love triangles (or squares?) with Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, and Sakura. I personally find it difficult and annoying to write and read a romance book with such complications. Besides, I'm sure I'll entertain you guys a lot more with NaruHina moments, action scenes, and Hinata's family drama. So I hope I don't disappoint you guys with this story, and let me shut up now so that you can read the recap or the story, or whatever you like reading first. **

* * *

**Recap:**

**Hinata has recently been introduced to Naruto and his gang, a bit unexpected and not foreseen, Hinata somehow is able to accept this with little problems. Luckily for her, she gets to meet up with her long lost cousin Neji! Happy to meet her cousin again, Hinata makes her first acquaintances with Naruto and the others. Naruto has proven to be a good man and strange to Hinata; he was a fun, always laughing and smiling, strong person; though he has shown his other side that stand in complete contrary to his usual self. Now that Hinata has just met Naruto, she finds herself asking him to come back again - why she asked, she doesn't know herself. Now that her quiet, sad life has been broken from her usual cycle; Hinata begins to face a whole new stage in her life where this fun loving stranger begins to affect her life completely. **

* * *

**Chapter 2: Visits**

"Hinata! How have you been while we were gone? Did you stay safe?"

Hinata flustered as Kurenai returned home from her vacation, her husband Asuma lugging their luggage back in their rooms as Kurenai kicked off her shoes to walk over to Hinata with a hug.  
"O-Oh, I-I've been w-well. T-Thank you … a-and yes. I've b-been perfectly s-safe here …"

Kurenai smiled as she patted Hinata on the back warmly.

"Good, good, that's a relief."  
Kurenai then smiled slyly at Hinata before adding, "Oh, and don't you think I forgot about that 'surprise' I was going to show you young ma'am."

Kurenai whipped out two pink slips of paper and waved it in her face, grinning widely.

"Ta-da!"

Hinata frowned at the slips of paper, trying to read them as she waved them back and forth.

"Um … what are they?"

Kurenai laughed as she held one out for her to read.

"It's an exclusive pass for a Girl's Night Out! I won it during my vacation with Asuma and basically, I get to take a friend of mine out to have a good time to ourselves! We'll get makeovers; go shopping, hot springs – all the good stuff! You up for it?"

Hinata fingered the pink paper and mumbled, "Um … I'm not really into these kinds of things …"

Kurenai's face fell slightly, Hinata quickly adding in, "Um, but, I-I don't mind I suppose. I do n-need some n-new c-clothes … a jacket I-I suppose."

Kurenai brightened again as she hugged Hinata with a squeal.

"Yes! I knew you'd like it! Trust me; it'll be so much fun! Just you and me, two girls out on a shopping spree with free makeovers and three nights to the hot springs! Oh, I forgot to mention; I'll be paying for EVERYTHING – so you just enjoy yourself and buy whatever you want."

Hinata flustered, suddenly very ashamed of herself to have agreed to such unspoken terms.

"B-But, Kurenai! I-"

"No buts! Butts are for sitting! Now I scheduled this for this weekend, and I've already asked your publishers and editors if they could spare me three days of goodness; they wish you a happy birthday as well."

Hinata smiled shyly, remembering an e-card they had sent earlier in the day with an apology note for not having prepared something before hand, not that they should've.

Kurenai suddenly fished through her bag as she muttered, "Oh! That's right Hinata, I ran into one of your publishers on the way here and he wanted to give you this on behalf of the others; they said they felt bad for not giving you a present, so here."

Kurenai held out a thin envelope for Hinata, smiling at the perplexed appearance on her face.

"Go on! Open it."

Hinata broke the seal and pulled out the slip of paper inside, almost gasping at the surprise.

"T-This is!"

Kurenai laughed happily as Hinata gawked at the check – a paycheck of a thousand dollars.

"They said for me to tell you, Happy Twenty-First Birthday! Generously given, they wanted to give you a bonus with your pay check."

Hinata smiled, greatly moved by the kindness of her publishers and editors, hugging the check to her chest, she found herself bowing mindlessly at Kurenai.

"Thank you … thank you … thank you."

Asuma came out of his room looking between the frantically bowing Hinata and his laughing wife, slightly scolding her for bowing without reason. He sighed and smiled between the two as he lit a cigarette, walking outside to let the smoke out.

'_Aw geez, she's getting all smiley again now that she has another female to hang out with.'_

Hinata made her way back upstairs to put her check away for safe keeping, and just when she was about to go back to writing her novel, Kurenai called for her downstairs.

"Hinata! There's someone here that wants to see you!"

Hinata frowned to herself before heading back downstairs; who could it be? Was it Naruto? Surely he wouldn't have came back to visit this soon … they had only met just yesterday.

Hinata skipped down the last two steps before looking who stood at the door beside Kurenai, her stomach flipping at the sight of the grinning blond.

"Yo! What's up Hinata?"

Kurenai gave Hinata a quizzical look, asking mildly too pleasantly, "Hinata, do you know this guy? If you don't, I can chase him out for you."  
Hinata blushed at the tone in Kurenai's voice; she nervously shook her head, "N-No Kurenai, N-Naruto h-here is just a f-friend I met yesterday. He's a-also a f-friend of S-Shikamaru; he's Asuma's f-friend yes?"

Kurenai brightened, the dark look on her face evaporating as she laughed lightly.

"Oh! So he's a friend of Shikamaru's? Oh, it's alright then. Come in, come in, it's a bit chilly this morning."

Naruto laughed, staying by the door as he apologetically scratched the back of his head.

"Ah, no, it's fine. I have some where to go after this so I can't really stay here very long. I just came to give Hinata something."

Kurenai nodded, smiling as she backed away, inching towards her bedroom.

"Oh~! I seeeee~! Well then, I'll leave the two of you ALOOONNEEE~!"

She winked at Hinata as she hurried into her room, grabbing Asuma back inside with her, who had came outside to grab a soda.

Hinata blushed again, left fidgeting in her spot by the door as she was left alone with Naruto, what was with that look Kurenai gave her? Could she be thinking they were … in love?

Naruto yanked out a gift bag from behind him, grinning as he handed it to her.  
"Here! Happy late birthday for however old you're turning out to be. Neji told me about your birthday and I felt bad for not giving you anything, so I decided to go out and get you something nice. I asked Neji about what sort of things you liked, but he wasn't very helpful. So I just settled for something I thought was cute while walking around a department store."

Hinata pulled out the tissue paper and yanked out a plush stuffed animal; a small fox.

Hinata usually didn't buy herself such cute objects for her personal keep; back at the Hyuuga household, such toys and dolls were forbidden. She didn't even know what they were until she left her house. But just out of habit and strict teaching, she never bothered getting one ... but this was … almost too cute to reject.

Hinata didn't know when, but she found herself cuddling it, sighing as she buried her face in the plush fur of the fox, blushing when she heard Naruto laugh openly.

"You're hilarious Hinata! Oh, and Neji says happy late birthday too. Everyone else gives their regards in fact."

Naruto's face suddenly turned sour as he muttered, "Well … everyone except Sasuke of course. Damn that jerk, never cares about anybody else other than himself."

Hinata looked up from her new doll before smiling nervously, "Um, N-Naruto? T-Thank you … for the, cute little fox you gave me … y-you r-really s-shouldn't h-have bothered to bring me a gift …"

Naruto smiled at her, reaching out to tweak her nose.

"Come on now, for someone as special as you, you definitely deserve a gift on your birthday! A birthday gone by unnoticed is the saddest thing ever …"

Hinata smiled, rubbing her nose where he had tweaked her. Then he stretched as he yawned, sighing as he smiled at her.

"Well, guess I better get going. I have something very important to deal with and someone I need to meet. I'll see you around Hinata!"

He winked at her cheekily before spinning off to saunter away with his hands up and clasped behind his head. He whistled a merry tune to himself as he traveled down the street.

Hinata moved to close the door but stopped herself as she dared herself to take one last glance at Naruto.

Watching from a distance, she could see the sun shining its bright rays around him, making his hair a shade darker than it normally was. His walk was fast paced and taken in long strides; a proud smile on his face as he ambled down the road with his jacket flapping open at his sides.

But what Hinata found herself mesmerized in was his eyes. The brightest shade of blue she had ever seen. Even the sky was reflecting in his eyes, which made the world seem so perfect; his laugh would always reflect in his eyes. She liked how his eyes changed colors in correspondence to how he felt; mad, happy, grim – his eyes fell in sync with his words and expressions. He was truly a man who wore his heart upon his sleeves. Was that a good thing? Personally, Hinata liked that in most people.

Hinata found herself still standing there long after Naruto had disappeared from sight, her face still a bit red and she had to pinch herself to regain her composure. She had a funny feeling in her chest that she couldn't quite grasp, but she decided it was probably just from embarrassment from earlier, and hurried to close the door, taking her fox with her.

* * *

Naruto watched the garage door slam open, inside his gang had already met together; a man tied in the middle shouting angrily at the interrogator.

"F*CKING PIECES OF SH*T, ALL OF YOU! JUST WAIT UNTIL HE GETS HIS HANDS ON YOU; YOU'LL ALL BE WISHING YOU HADN'T MESSED WITH ME!"

Naruto walked towards the man as Shikamaru fell in step with him, taking the jacket Naruto was shouldering off.

"What's the situation here?"  
"As you said, this guy here apparently IS part of the Akatsuki gang we heard about earlier this month. He was recently associated in drug dealing with one of the Akatsuki members and we managed to track him down and bring him here; only he's being quite persistent on staying clammed up. He keeps talking crap about how his Akatsuki friend would kill us all."

Naruto saw Sasuke pinning the man up against his post, glaring at him angrily as he snapped, "Shut up you asshole. Tell me where the Akatsuki is before I-"  
"Sasuke! Drop him; with the way you're getting to him, he isn't going to talk sh*t."

Sasuke eyed Naruto incredulously, but as Naruto handed Shikamaru his jacket, he realized that Naruto would handle it himself; he smirked at the man before dropping him, letting Naruto take his place.

"You're screwed b*tch."

The man glared at Sasuke as he spat, "Go to hell pretty boy-"

Naruto smacked the man violently, shocking the man as he glared at Naruto with outrage.

"WHAT THE F*CK?! HOW DARE YOU HIT ME LIKE THAT, WHEN HE COMES HE'LL TAKE ALL YOUR HEADS AND SPILL YOUR BLOOD! HE'LL KILL YOU ALL! YOU-"

Naruto smacked him again, sneering as he looked at Naruto more in disbelief than outrage.

"Cooled down now? Keep talking crap like that and I'll just keep doing that to you until you shut the f*ck up."

He gawked at Naruto as the boys all around snickered; they all enjoyed it when Naruto did the interrogating; they were so stupid and lame methods, but for whatever reason, they were very effective.

Naruto patted the man on his head, smiling without any sign of aggression on his face, peering at the man's face as he asked, "Now, let's start with you. What's your name?"

He hesitated, not exactly wanting to give his identity up to this complete stranger, but neither did he want another slap on the face …

"R-Ren …"  
"Ren? Okay then, you're one the Akatsuki's helpers right?"

"Yes I am."

"Care to tell us about who was the person drug dealing with the Washi gang?"

Ren grimaced, shaking his head as he honestly spoke, "To be honest, I don't know myself. I'm just a nobody; all I need to do is stand outdoor and guard for security purposes. I'm never allowed to know who from the Akatsuki comes to do business. I'm just a guard."

Naruto stared at Ren for a moment longer before stepping back sighing, running a hand through his hair.

"Great … another worthless punk we snatched. Geez, why do we waste time like this? Come on guys; let's get ready to send him off."

Ren looked down at his shoes as he mumbled under his breath, "But there is one guy I know … that might've known who he was."

Kiba snaked a hand out and grabbed the man by his shoulder, grinning over his shoulder at Ren with curious eyes, "Really now? Tell us more about this guy."

Naruto turned back to focus his attention once more on Ren, the other boys in the room doing the same.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about! I never said anything about anyone-"

Kiba squeezed his shoulder, his fingers digging into him as he spoke in a tight, threatening voice, "Now don't lie to me. I can practically smell your lies from your sweat; I suggest you cooperate with us if you want to walk out of here in one piece."

Ren swallowed the lump in his throat as he shrinked away from Kiba, whose voice was dripping with wicked venom, his fingers still digging into his shoulder yet still.

Neji who stood to one side with his arms crossed called to Kiba, "Let him go already Kiba, you're scaring him."

Kiba smirked.

"What a chicken."

Choji sat with Shikamaru in the back as they watched silently, sharing a bag of chips as they watched Neji grab Kiba by the shoulder, gently pulling him away.

"Lay off him Kiba, seriously, don't pick on him just because he's younger than you."

Kiba kicked Ren before leaving, muttering something about jerks as Naruto bent down before Ren, asking him if he would cooperate.

"Can you please tell us this man's name? We won't hurt you or him if you just tell us, I swear, all we want is to find out where the Akatsuki is."

Ren stared at Naruto before shaking his head.  
"Why are you after the Akatsuki? Do you have ANY idea how scary those guys are? Trust me; you're better off keeping your distance."

Naruto smiled.

"Maybe you're right, but because of some complications, we need to talk with one of their members and settle things. One of my closest friend is planning on leaving us if we don't help him; that's why we're bothering to risk it to meet these men. You just need to give us the name of the man you do know who might help us find the Akatsuki."

Ren eyed Naruto in a mixture of awe and disbelief. Was this guy being serious?! He's always been there to watch these guys wipe out hundreds and slaughter mercilessly; they were bloodthirsty men and not your average group of ruffians – they were the real deal, hardcore killers. And for this guy, the smiley, freaky kind of Blondie, he was willing to put himself out there just so he can help a friend settle some personal matters. He was really crazy.

Ren shook his head, groaning as he spat, "Kabuto. Kabuto Yakushi. He's a drug dealer and you're more likely to find him at a black market pit stop on the west side of the city."

Naruto patted Ren on the back, grimly thanking him. Ren just shook his head.

"Don't mention it. Just don't blame me if you end up getting you and your pals killed. Just don't rat on me and let me go already; I'm sick of being here."

Naruto nodded, looking up he called out, "Shino! Time to take him back where he belongs."

Shino stepped out from the corner, dressed in his gray trench coat and black sunglasses. He wordlessly followed orders, guiding Ren blindfolded out of the garage and into a van. Shino left with Lee and Kiba and left the garage, Naruto turned to the rest of his gang slipping his jacket back on.

"Well, that went well. I didn't have to beat him up as I anticipated."

Sasuke crossed his arms, a bit dissatisfied by the interrogation.

"I still think it could've been better; you should've leeched every ounce of information out of him until he breaks, he could've been hiding something important."  
Naruto stared at Sasuke before replying, "Sasuke. There's no need to ask for information we don't need to know about. We just ask for the things we need to know, nothing more and nothing less. Be a bit more grateful for what we do for you Sasuke; this is as good as it gets I you want to get closer to your brother."

Sasuke ground his teeth as he stalked away, set on edge at the mention of his brother. Shikamaru walked with Naruto out of the garage into the house inside; obviously, Shikamaru's place, because he was the one who had the biggest home and empty garage. (He never drives a car; Shikamaru has always liked to walk to gawk at the clouds to and from wherever he went to.)

Inside, his girlfriend, Temari, lay sprawled on the couch reading a magazine. She looked up at the sight of the two and smirked.

"Well? How'd it go?"  
Shikamaru smirked back.

"Smooth as ice; Naruto was there to settle the issue, he was pretty open at the end."

Naruto sighed as he sat at one of the tall chairs at the kitchen counter, grabbing a can of soda from the middle and popped it open.

"Still, I wished it was more productive. We needed more information, but if we keep getting guys like that guy Ren, we're going to be running in circles. I hope this Kabuto guy turns out to be of some improvement; Sasuke is starting to bug me to death about the Akatsuki – you know how impatient he is."  
Shikamaru smirked as he leaned against the wall across from Naruto, taking a swig of his own soda.

"That Sasuke, he's been touchy lately, especially if we talk about the Akatsuki around him; not to mention a bit twitchier than usual."

Naruto stared off in deep thinking as he fiddled with his soda can.

"Yeah … anyway, we need to get started on tracking down this Kabuto. Ren said he'd be at the west side of the city at a black market pit stop; think you can have Kiba start snooping around and start tracking him? He's good at that sort of stuff …"

Shikamaru nodded, "I was wondering when you were going to ask that.

"Don't worry, he's on the case. He's going to start gathering information about him after dropping off Ren back at his gang; he should be back with some new information and the whereabouts of this black market pit stop."

Naruto nodded, the two looking up as Neji entered the kitchen and taking a spot beside the two, reaching over to take an apple.

"So what are you two discussing this time?"

"Our plans for the Akatsuki."

"Ah, of course."

Neji bit into the apple as he eyed Naruto, chewing his apple thoughtfully he asked through his filled mouth, "So … what did you get my cousin?"

Shikamaru looked up in surprise, a quizzical expression on his face with an amused grin on his face.

"Whoa, he actually went out to get something for her? And I thought he was joking when he asked you about her birthday …"

Naruto laughed nervously, a slight blush creeping up on his face.

"Ahahaha, that. Yeah, uh, I got her a plush doll just because I didn't know what she likes … but since she's a girl I assumed she'd still like the girly things girls liked so … yeah."

Neji stared at Naruto blank of emotion before bluntly pointing out, "She likes books."

Naruto and Shikamaru stared at Neji as he took another bite in his apple. Naruto then sighed in an exasperated manner, "Geez Neji! You could've told me that before I went gift shopping!"

Neji looked at Naruto while chewing thoughtfully, "I was just making sure you really meant what you said. Besides; it's better to give someone a present from what you think is best for her interests. Just because she likes books doesn't mean she's going to want a book as a present every single time anyway. I'd say that doll was a good choice; she's never had one before so it's a nice change for her."

Shikamaru frowned.

"She's never had one before? Geez, she's a girl and she should be into those sort of things. Even I had a few when I was young; kids can't live without those sort of things."

Naruto nodded, recalling a few of his own personal dolls he used to own in his … particularly lonely past.

"Yeah, how come she's never had one before?"

Neji stared down at his apple suddenly not hungry.

"Her father … has always believed that personal belongings like dolls and toys were pointless to have. So he made sure she never saw one and touched one; she was always given educational teaching and extra workbooks to work on as a gift instead; she has always assumed those were what 'gifts' were."

Naruto was beginning to hate her father more and more now; what kind of a father gives her daughter study textbooks as a gift over something as harmless and innocent as a toy?! Naruto concluded that not only was her father a jerk; he was insecure about his daughter's upbringing – an insecure asshole.

"Her father is such a jerk."

Neji bit into his apple with a bit more force, spilling its juice over his shirt.

"Her father isn't a jerk; he's a heartless, arrogant man full of his own wealth. A man like that, one day he's going to get what's coming to him."

The three fell in silence before Naruto asked, "Any of you guys want to go out and have a drink?"

* * *

Hinata stared at the beady black eyes of the fox that she sat on her bed. She was lying on her side while playing with its ears and tail, a hand to her lip as she smiled, remembering Naruto's smile and laugh as he gave it to her.

'_Naruto …'_

Hinata wrapped her arms around the fox and hugged it to her face, with a hidden smile. Hinata was beginning to like this Naruto more and more now, but she still didn't quite understand the flutter in her heart … she fell asleep that night – for the first time – in actual peace. His fox clutched tightly in her arms the entire night.

* * *

The weekend came quicker than she thought, now that she thought about as she stood by the door a bit apprehensive about going; wondering if she should've thought twice about it and gave Kurenai a more refined answer. Kurenai walked out of her room dressed her best; she linked her arm through Hinata's before smiling, "Ready?"

Hinata didn't know if that word applied to her at all. She wore the clothes she thought would be the most comfortable for her and tried to take her purse with her (but Kurenai got all hissy about it and eventually hid it somewhere, stubbornly refusing to give it back until after their three day trip). Hinata mumbled to herself as she hung her head, "Y-Yes … s-somewhat-"

"LET'S GO THEN! ASUMA! GET OUT HERE AND DRIVE US THERE ALREADY!"

Kurenai surged forward as she dragged Hinata with her, jumping in Asuma's jeep with a giddy smile; her husband a bit groggy this morning as he mindlessly drove the two to their destination.

Hinata watched the road flash by her, slowly the fields morphed into small houses, and those houses turned into buildings – slowly enough, they entered the denser parts of the city, Asuma and Kurenai navigating the roads to find a certain place to turn in their tickets.

Hinata had dosed off during the latter parts of the long drive, eventually woken up gently by Kurenai.

"Hinata? We're here sweetie!"

Kurenai beamed at her as Hinata yawned, rubbing her eyes to step out the jeep. As Kurenai kissed her husband goodbye, Hinata peered at the building.

"'_X-clusive' _i-is this some sort of a-an e-event planning b-b-business, o-or …"

Kurenai linked her arm through Hinata's again before explaining, "X-clusive is a company that works with their customers to grant a special event prior planned. These tickets here guarantee us the best of the best and they'll be providing their staff and helpers to do the makeovers and transportation; I came here yesterday evening to plan a few things. Now we just have to turn this in and we'll be on our way!"

Kurenai dragged Hinata inside quickly with the tickets in her hand; inside was busier than it had seemed from outside.

Phones were constantly ringing and the noisy chatter of staff workers buzzed like a hive of bees – hundreds of printers worked to spit out sheets and sheets of paper, of which many scurried around collecting and dispersing to their designated people. Hinata, a bit overwhelmed to be among such a huge crowd, Kurenai was instructed to a certain agent of which Kurenai pulled Hinata through the crowd to reach.

"Hinata, this is agent Ryuu, he and I were planning your special trip and it's going to be absolutely wonderful! Shake hands."

Kurenai yanked one of Hinata's hands out, making her shake hands with the man who smiled at her warmly.

"Hello! You must be Hinata! Kurenai told me a lot about you. Now that I have your tickets, come to the back with me and I'll have you on your way; as we walk, I'll tell you about your schedule for today and the other parts of this trip."

Flustered, Hinata was once again ushered to follow the man by Kurenai, walking with him and dodging busy workers, he spoke loudly over the noise:

"You will be spending an exclusive two days and three night's trip at a fancy hotel where you get to enjoy the luxurious rooms and service with breakfast in bed three days straight – after that you are free to leave the hotel to start your day.

Today, after our staff takes your things to the hotel, you will be taken to Mirror911 Salon to start your free makeover. Everything they use on you – make up, styling gear, and clothing will be given to you also for free since they come with the makeover. You will be given tips and given top quality service, enjoy your time there.

After the makeover, you will go on a shopping spree with Kurenai to an outlet mall where you can shop to your heart's delight and stock up on whatever you want with an unlimited budget; just show this card to the cashier wherever you go, and they'll know who you're with.

After your shopping fun, you'll be provided lunch at wherever you choose, and before you turn in for the night, you'll be pampered at an exclusive spa where you will clean up at our private hot spring and given a soothing massage."

Hinata could barely keep up with the fast speaking man, it was hard to hear him over the noisy building and even worse to keep up with him – how could he weave through the tightly packed halls so easily?! Hinata was tempted to turn back around and leave. But with a giddy Kurenai latched on her arm, pushing her consistently forward, Hinata really didn't have choice in any of this.

Finally, when they escaped the building and exited out the back, Hinata blinked in surprise at the white limousine that sat parked in the back of the building, at least a dozen men and woman dressed in black greeted her with a bow as they addressed her, "Welcome."

"How is it? Do you like it? Doesn't it give you that rich feel?"

Hinata sadly had to agree with Kurenai.

"Yes …"

'_This reminds me of my old home …'_

Ryuu clasped his hands together, grinning happily.

"Yes, you will both be treated as if you were pampered princesses! You'll be given a taste of what it's like to be wealthy! Now, any questions?"  
Hinata shook her head – unable to ask any questions because she didn't understand ANYTHING he had rambled on about back as they walked – and he smiled.

"Good, then enjoy your time ladies and have fun with our X-clusive offers! Oh, and Happy birthday Miss. Hinata. Goodbye and have fun!"

* * *

Naruto had the worst headache that night. He was woken by a none to gentle shake on his shoulder, he snorted as he woke up, a splitting headache attacking him as he winced laying his head back on the table.

"Wha- who? What the- ow! Sh*t! Ow …"

"Of course you'd get a hangover; you were really living it up last night."

Naruto moaned as he rubbed his forehead.

"Look who's talking – you were the one with the girls getting all slutty."

Naruto looked up at Jiraiya, the club's owner, with distaste, holding his head as if to stop the dizziness.

"Ha! You got me there kid, sadly enough, you still don't like partying it out with the girls here. You and your gang chugging nearly half of my liquor here and passing out like hobos in my club overnight. Good thing Sasuke bothered to pay for it all and leave that night."

Naruto was passed a cup of cold water; he downed it quickly, wincing as the cold fought against his headache, his hangover unyielding to the cold drink of water.

"Ugh … did he now? How considerate of him, was he drunk when he did it?"  
Jiraiya shrugged, grinning his toothy smile.

"How should I know? Last time I saw him drunk, he was still perfectly sane. Maybe he was, and maybe he wasn't. He's a strange one, like, who's able to keep perfectly sane after drinking all that alcohol? Geez, that kid has talent; a useful talent that I'd like to have."

Naruto shook his head in disgust, "God forbid; a perverted man like you doesn't need something like that. I'd find myself a different club to go to if you had such a skill – nothing but you and girls all the way through … ugh, this headache!"

Shikamaru beside him groaned as he grew slowly conscious, his hangover settling in as he banged his head once on the table. He hissed in agony before sighing.

"How troublesome … these hangovers … ow … I've forgotten how much it sucked …"

Naruto scanned the club and found only a few of his gang still here, the missing ones like Sasuke and Shino probably got sensible and left sometime that night. Choji didn't even come because he didn't like clubs and Neji was strictly against alcohol. Of course, Kiba was sprawled on one of the couches in the club snoring completely passed out – bottles strewn around him as he shifted in his sleep, moaning something about dogs.

Lee, who was a very enthusiastic drinker, was in the other room probably because whenever he took a sip of alcohol, tended to get very dangerous around others; he gets delusions thinking that everyone is trying to pick a fight with him and breaks into a fit of destruction; a special room was specifically made just for him to wear himself out in and pass out.

Naruto and Shikamaru worked together (while enduring their own hangovers) to wake up Kiba and Lee, the two immediately falling prey to their hangovers.

Jiraiya heartlessly kicked them out and the four walked the streets of early morning trying to walk out the hangover, each staying silent as they endured their hangovers individually with their splitting headaches and dry throats.

The night before had been a rather gloomy time. Everyone was a bit down about the entire Akatsuki business and especially Naruto, had drank away into oblivion; and every single time, like now, Naruto swore he'd never drink again. Though eventually he would again anyway sometime soon, like men like him do, but for now, he'd keep his distance from ever returning to Jiraiya's club again.

Naruto finally spoke after his headache ebbed away to sore throbbing, "Okay guys, you know what to do. Kiba, start tracking down the guy and Shikamaru, you go with Lee to round up the others who ditched us last night; we need to start finding this Akatsuki fellow."  
They all nodded.

"Right."  
"As for me, I'm just going to go meet an old friend and ask her if she knows anyone by the name of Kabuto. Just call me if we run into trouble."

After making a few more points very clear, Naruto dispersed the group; himself heading down the street towards an active outlet mall; a little down to the right of it was a pharmacy where he knew a certain person might be of some assistance.

Naruto was careful to maintain his sanity while fighting his hangover; painfully aware of his bad breath and how his clothes reeked of alcohol. Hopefully this friend of his had some clothes he could borrow.

Naruto picked his way through the thick crowd of the outlet mall, curving his way around the streets to pass a salon and enter a pharmacy at the end of the street, instantly greeted by a cheery speaking pharmacy consultant.

"Hello, and welcome to Natural Aid! A place where only natural ingredients are used to make your everyday products in medication and – Naruto?!"

Naruto waved a drowsy hand to the pink haired pharmacist.

"Mmm … hey Sakura, long time no see."

Sakura took off her reading glasses as she hurried to his side, her long white coat flapping behind her as she strutted over in her high heels. She took a step back in regret when she came up to him.  
"UGH – you've been drinking again?! Geez Naruto, change your clothes!"

Naruto smiled, his headache kicked a notch at her accusing voice; Sakura was always very disappointed in him and his personal actions.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I came here because I have a question-"  
"If it's a date, forget it."

Naruto laughed, finding it outrageously hilarious to find the pink haired doctor stand there with her arms crossed bitterly; to think he came all this way through his hangover to ask something as pointless as that.

"Oh please Sakura, dream on. You have better chances of dating Sasuke than me; anyway, that's not what I was going to ask."

Sakura pursed her lips at the smart comeback but decided to let it slide this time.

"Fine, what do you need?"  
Naruto looked her in the eye before asking, "Do you know anyone named Kabuto?"  
Sakura blinked at the mention of the name before nodding slowly, "Uh … I've heard of him … isn't he a serious drug dealer? Yeah, he's broken into a few pharmacies the past few weeks and I was put on alert to watch out for him; he's been stealing medicines lately for the sake of making his drugs and selling them at his black market; nasty creep, him."

Naruto asked her for more information, "You haven't met him though, right? Have any idea where he might be?"

Sakura shook her head, giving him an apologetic smile.

"No, sorry. He's stopped his raids and stayed away from the public for a while. I've never met him and I don't have any idea where he might be. But if anything, he's probably at the black market pit stop around this side of the city-"  
Naruto sighed, "Yeah, we already know about that."

Sakura shrugged, her hands out in exasperation, "Then I don't know what to tell you Naruto; that's all I got on Kabuto … but I'd be careful. If you are trying to find him, I suggest you have a medic close by; he has a tendency to inject his victims with poison; a few of my fellow pharmacists have been taken through emergency stages to get rid of the poison – he's a dangerous one."

Naruto wasn't at all surprised; a man who was affiliated closely with the Akatsuki had to be just as tough as them to be able to even speak with such men; to hear that this Kabuto was a bit trigger happy on a syringe full of poison was of no surprise to Naruto.

"Yeah, thanks for the tip."

He turned to leave when Sakura stopped him.

"Hold up Naruto, you're seriously not going to walk out of my pharmacy like THAT are you? You'd set a bad image on my pharmacy walking out all beat up because of your hangover; I'll lose my business! Get over here so I can get you some medicine."

She walked back behind her counter, rifling for some aspirin. Naruto sat waiting in one of the chairs as Sakura came back with a cup of water and the aspirin.

She stood there watching him as she ordered strictly, "Now, swallow."

Naruto obeyed and sighed as her medicine took its slow effects to fight off his hangover; her medicine had always worked wonders and was far more reliable than anywhere else in Naruto's opinion. Sakura pulled up a chair besides Naruto and settled to have a catch up talk.

"So, how's Sasuke?"

"Still yakking on dealing with his brother, that's why we need to find this Kabuto guy to find the Akatsuki of which his brother is part of; if I don't help him, he told me he'd leave the gang to make his own and go after him himself – he's become a hell of a b*tch lately …"

Sakura frowned at Naruto as he crushed the plastic cup in his hands mindlessly.

"Oh shut up Naruto, he's probably just getting frustrated by how slow it's taking. Sasuke has been a bit on the impatient side."

Naruto gave her an incredulous look.

"You have no idea how stupid you sound right now. You and I know since childhood that Sasuke has ALWAYS been on the patient side; for him to be set on edge now is a bit of a surprise isn't it?"

Sakura shrugged.

"People change."

"Not Sasuke."

"Maybe you just haven't accepted that yet."

"Never will and I refuse to believe he's a different person than the patient, good looking know it all jerk I've always been envious of."

Sakura watched Naruto glower to himself as he played with his fingers, sitting slouched in his chair irritably.

"Anyway … has Sasuke ever asked about me?"

Naruto cracked a smile, wondering when she would ever have brought it up.

"Don't worry blossom; your little Sasuke hasn't hooked up with anyone yet or associated with any girls since you. But he hasn't asked about you at all because he's always busy with his Itachi business."

Sakura pouted slightly, displeased to hear this.

"Damn it … oh well, can't blame the guy; too busy for his own good. Anyway, how are you doing then Naruto?"

He shrugged; sitting back he stared at the ceiling as he mumbled, "Met a girl …"

Sakura suddenly fell silent. When she didn't react, Naruto looked at her confused.

"Eh? Sakura, why did you stop talking-"

"Don't pull my leg Uzumaki; who are you trying to kid?! There is NO WAY you've met a girl and … stuff."

Naruto blushed, sitting up straight as he spoke, "Eesh! Sakura! It's not what you think; I am NOT in a relationship with her! She's just Neji's cousin and I happened to save her from a bunch of slutty jerks, don't get any ideas in that big forehead of yours pinky!"

Sakura irked before cooling herself down.

"Whatever, you scared me there for a moment Naruto; the day you get a girlfriend will be the day cats and dogs fly."

Naruto chucked the crumbled cup in his hands at Sakura's head before snarling, "Oh shut up; you're single too. Who knows, maybe you'll have one of those 'unrequited' love relationships with Sasuke."

Sakura grabbed the crumbled cup again and threw it back at Naruto, who reflexively ducked.

"Oh go stand in front of a speeding car you dope!"

"Single."

"Stupid."

"Hothead."

"Girl-less."

"B*tch."

"F-"

The door opened and Sakura jumped up putting on her mask of the 'nice doctor' as she greeted the newcomer.

"Welcome to Natural Aid! All of my medicines are made with natural ingredients, sure to be twice as more effective than factory made medicines; how may I help you today?"

Naruto stood and made his way to the door, waving to Sakura who waved back with a tap on her phone and a glare. She'd talk with him later over the phone.

Naruto pushed the door open and walked outside, his mind clear of his hangover and feeling a thousand times better, though his muscles were a bit sore.

Naruto walked past the salon and stopped as the door suddenly swung open and almost smacked him in the face.

"Holy sh*t-"

He swerved to one side, irritably turning to snap at the person who had opened the door, "Geez! Could you be a bit less sudden about it-"

He choked on his own words as a shy person peeked over the door's edges at him, her eyes widening in surprise as she squeaked and ran back inside.

'_H-Hinata?! What the … why does she look so … freaking amazing!'_

Naruto stood there a bit dumbstruck as suddenly the door swung back open wide with Hinata being harassed through the door, Kurenai bulldozing her forward with a laugh.

"Why hide?! I didn't pay for this trip to have you waste your makeover to hide it to yourself; show it off! Start with him!"

Hinata flustered, stuttering madly at Kurenai who told her to be quiet.

Naruto stared at the sudden transformation.

Hinata had swapped her usually messy pony tail for a more casual appearance of her hair let down and combed, refined, and straightened to where they framed her small face, little make up applied to her naturally gorgeous face (he knew that for a fact). She was wringing her hands to death as she hung her head in – what? Shame? Embarrassment? It was hard to tell by the way she stood fidgeting in place with a furious blush on her face.

Her usual purple jacket and jeans was swapped for a flirty lavender dress that hung just above her knees, revealing her long smooth calves to where her feet were placed into a pair of ankle heels.

From her cutesy adorable appearance, she had evolved for a more stunning and simple outfit that had Naruto in desperate need of his voice.

Kurenai grinned at Naruto as she presented Hinata as if she was a display from a showcase.

"Well~! What do you think? Doesn't she look absolutely gorgeous?!"

Naruto tried to make a casual comment, but all he could manage was cough in his hand.

Kurenai grinned widely at the two before laughing.

"Look at him! So stunned that he can't even speak! This is the effect you want Hinata from boys sweetie; you should dress like this more often!"

Hinata tugged at her hair, looking at the ends of her hair miserably.

"B-But, I-I liked d-dressing n-normally, w-why do I h-have to w-wear this-"

"Nonsense! What are you talking about?! You call spending three minutes on your hair, wearing nothing but t-shirts and jeans, and not applying any make up NORMAL for a young woman such as you?! Please, don't make me laugh."  
Kurenai then smiled at Naruto with a wink, "Well then, we'll see you around Little Fox! Hinata and I have a very busy schedule and we wouldn't want to waste any more time. Hopefully by next week, you'll see her like this more often. Chao!"

Then Naruto watched Hinata being dragged off by Kurenai towards a white limo (what the f*ck?!) and off to God knows where. Naruto stood there stunned before asking himself, "Wait … did Kurenai just call me 'Little Fox'? What the f*ck …"

"Naruto! Naruto! Finally found you, you little b*tch! Where were you?!"

Kiba smacked Naruto on the back of his head, expecting the fired up reply of an offended Naruto, but he simply blinked in surprise, looking over at Kiba with a level of perplexity before asking seemingly aloof, "Eh? Kiba, when did you get here?"

Kiba gave Naruto a funny look before saying, "Geez! What's up with you?! You look like as if suffered a bout of Alzheimer's!"

Kiba stopped suddenly, then he sniffed at Naruto before coughing, "Geez! You smell like-"  
Naruto nodded, knowing already, "I know, I know, alcohol. I need to change-"  
Kiba shook his head, "What? No, I don't smell it on you. No, I smell perfume all over you! God, that sh*t is strong! You a fan of lavender or what?!"

Naruto sniffed his sleeve to suddenly realize his clothes stank of lavender – it must've stuck to his clothes by being with Hinata for a short while … he hadn't realized the sweet scent until Kiba had pointed it out. Cautiously, he answered with a small smile, "Maybe."

* * *

**I'm getting all smiley with my little ending of this chapter, I can't stop smiling now. This chapter took a while and I hope you guys don't mind that they're so long. Let me know if you want them shorter or whatever, I'll work with you guys to make it easier for you to read it.**

**I know one of my reviewers has asked where Shino existed in the story, yes, I did not mean to leave him out. Although his appearance in my story is not well elaborated on and just extremely brief, I don't want to reveal too much about him, because I want to use him later in the story since he has a particular interrogating scene that he'll be performing to get some information out of a guy for Naruto's sake. So stay tuned for that! (I'm going to enjoy writing that Interrogation scene! XD )**

**As for Sakura and her appearance, sorry if none of you guys liked how I introduced her. I was trying to figure out how she'd be linked with Kabuto in some way, and decided that her expertise in medical ninjutsu to be altered to make her a specialist in medicine; a pharmacist. I know it's going to be weird trying to picture Sakura as a pharmacist, but I hope you don't mind. And trust me, later as I develop the story more, she'll appear more often. (I haven't brought out Ino and a few other characters yet because I want to save them for later! :D )**

**And you guys met Jiraiya in this one; not very surprising of him is it? The typical perverted sleeze has his own club; I wonder if that fits with his personality. But I thought it was interesting how I thought it up into the story. If you guys want me to bring up Jiraiya more often into the story, tell me about it in your reviews. (As for Tsunade, I have a brilliant idea hiding up my sleeve - it's going to be awesome! Hopefully.)**

**Anyway, enough me prattling and let me just tell you guys that I might not be able to update for the next chapter until sunday or monday, because saturday I'm going off on a trip so sorry if I don't update until then! But please continue to follow/favorite so that I can continue this story for your entertainment and my improvement in writing! Thank you guys so much for reading this story, and I can't wait to see how many reviews I'll get! So far, I like being on Fanfiction! You guys are all awesome; keep reading and stay tuned for when Hinata's family will soon be addressed in the next few chapters and the heated tension of their long awaited foe - the Akatsuki gang - draws closer and closer to Naruto and his friends! Stay alert and happy reading! (Keep putting up reviews and asking questions if you have any! All compliments and constructive criticism accepted with open arms - any hate or offensive reviews I will ask not to be posted please. So far I don't have that problem, which is awesome and I hope it stays that way. :D ) **


	3. Chapter 3: Something Gone Wrong

**New chapter! I'm really happy that this story is well liked and not a single negative comment - I'm thankful for that! And constructive criticism is still welcomed with open arms, don't feel bad if you have some thing say that sounds criticizing of my writing; we're all here to help each other with our writing and enjoy the stories put out here on ! Anyway, I just want to thank everyone that's following, favoriting, and posting reviews on my story and I'm really happy about that!**

**I want to try and tackle another story so that I have another story for you guys. But I'm not sure. Do you think I should? I already have started two and neither one of them are finished yet, so I'm thinking that if I start a third one, I'd just exhaust myself and make progress twice as slower. I put out a poll about it, go to my profile and please give your opinion on the poll, which has the same exact question. So please, take the poll and then I'll make my decision.****Thanks again for all your support guys! I really didn't think I'd have eighteen reviews - this is spectacular! :D**

**Recap:**

**Hinata, after having been saved by Naruto and his friends and making a few new acquaintances, Hinata has been invited by Kurenai to go on a three-day trip with her to enjoy a 'girl's time out' with shopping, makeovers, and hot springs! Hinata isn't the type to go out for such girly things, but to simply respect Kurenai's offer, she decided to put up with it and go along. Naruto comes back on a surprise visit - though only for a few minutes - to wish her a late happy birthday and gives her a sweet gift. Hinata now is feeling strange around Naruto, his smile is constantly filling her thoughts and brings a blush to her face, she can't hold back this strange feeling and is working on figuring it out exactly.**

**Naruto and his friends are on to something as they question a man named Ren, who was one of the guards of the Akatsuki when attending their drug dealing with a member of the Washi gang. Just who was this Akatsuki he didn't know; neither their whereabouts. Just when they thought they had caught another worthless punk, Ren mentions a man named Kabuto - the drug dealer who had accompanied the Akatsuki to meet the Washi gang. Now they go out to meet this man, at the western side of the city down town where a black market post is stationed; there, they were most likely to meet Kabuto ... **

**Hinata is about to find out more about her family as Naruto is about to figure out more about the Akatsuki for the sake of his friend Sasuke; tension is upon the horizon and it's only a matter of time before it's upon them ...**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Something Gone Wrong**

It had been a rather stress filled day for the Hyuuga family back at the Hyuuga estate. After everyone heard about what had happened, the servants and employees had begun whispering and gossiping on the youngest member of the Hyuuga – and whether or not she was even worthy of being heiress after what had been leaked out.

"Sh*t!"

"Hanabi! Never use that word in my presence."

Hanabi crossed her arms bitterly in front of her as she threw down the newspaper angrily, shooting an infuriated glare at her father.

"Don't talk to me about claptrap and can you LOOK AT THE FREAKING NEWSPAPER?!"

Hiashi gave her an equal look of disdain before growling, "I have this morning which is why I called you in here. Now control yourself of I'll detain you for a month in your room. I merely wanted to discuss the problematic situation with you, that is, if you want to stay as heiress."

Hanabi bit her tongue before forcing herself to gather her composure before sitting back down, dousing her anger for the time being.

Hiashi approvingly set his tea back down.

'_Hanabi has begun to be more reckless than I imagined and not to mention quick to anger … did I make the right decision?'_

"Now that you've calmed down, let's discuss about …. This."

Hiashi gestured to the newspaper where in bold screaming letters were printed; "HYUUGA SECRET REVEALED! WHEN HAS THE HEIRESS TITLE BEEN SWAPPED?! WHERE IS THE ELDEST HYUUGA?"

Hanabi hissed at her father defensively, "It wasn't MY fault Hinata scampered away; I wasn't aware of it myself that she decided to run off."

Her father gave her another stifling glare.

"When did I ever accuse you of her disappearance? Did I not tell you that her disappearance would make things easier on us? Simply telling the public that the eldest never had existed was easy enough. You are my heiress and nothing will change that, so stop getting notions in your head that your heiress title will be taken away."

Hanabi held her father's gaze before relaxing, a grim expression yet still lingering on her face.

'_I hope I mean what I said.'_

"Hinata's sudden disappearance finally made its way to the public, though it doesn't surprise me that they'd eventually find out, I'm very concerned on HOW the secret was suddenly …. Exposed."

Hanabi caught her father's glare again before she replied, "If you're thinking there's a leaker among my employees, let me assure you father that I trust every single one of them and that not one has ever had any motives to do such things. Perhaps your employees might've let something slip?"

"No, I never trust my employees with such a secret. Yours however know of WHY you're the heiress instead of their previous mistress Hinata, they don't mind the swap and they don't mind keeping clammed up about it. My employees are part of the business, in some ways; they think they know the company better than I do and they will judge upon what they believe will be the better heiress for the Hyuuga enterprise; as far as I know, they don't like you."

Hanabi stiffened, not taking it very lightly to think her father's employees – the actual workers in the company – didn't like her. This was serious considering Hanabi would take over her father's company once she turned twenty-one; the traditional age the Hyuugas have always had new leaders take over.

"So what if they don't like me? I can just replace them."

Hiashi brashly scolded her suddenly, "You fool! You dare replace my workers?! Well for one, you can't. Why? Because the workers and their families have worked in the Hyuuga Company for over generations and they know every bit of data on our functions and our secrets as Hyuuga. If you fire them, they will most likely turn on us and go out to other companies; share some information they know, and next think you know, you'll be facing a barrage of companies who have either copied, stole, and ripped off our work and you'd put our company in jeopardy because after that, not a single employee can you get in by the door to replace the lost workers, manufacturing and other vital working points would be drastically in desperate need, and we'd lose relationships with our fellow companies – meaning all aid would be cut off and the Hyuuga company placed in despair and inevitable fate of getting SHUT DOWN. Our company has never been SHUT DOWN; and I don't want it to shut down during my generation and yours. You think replacing a few of my employees is no problem? Go ahead and try it when I step down; you'll be regretting it in the very end."  
Hanabi felt slapped, her father had seen an entire scene of what could've happened if Hanabi had decided to follow through with her words; his words had truth in them and Hanabi felt ashamed to think such a disaster would've become to the Hyuuga. But yet still …

"Then what should I do?! I can't lead a company that my own workers hate me for!"

Hiashi nodded, holding up a finger as if to make a point.

"I am well aware of that daughter. This is why you'll have to now start working on making yourself appear as a capable and worthy heiress before my employees. Form relations with them and get on their good side; then when you take over, they'll have no objections and no problem with you leading in my stead."

Hanabi saw her father's viewpoint a valid answer to the situation, but Hanabi was terrible at making relations with other people, and exceptionally hated it when she was in the presence of commoners. It made her skin itch and it made her want to run to her room away from them all.

"I suppose father … but you know how terrible I am at making friendly relationships other than making business allies."

Hiashi nodded, now finding another obstacle he'd have to hurdle over in order to prepare his daughter for the time she'd be twenty-one; he only had a couple of years left.

"Yes, yes, I understand that you have … the lack of communication with those other than your family and employees; you'll have to start by learning the life of what they live through and by knowing what situations they go through, I believe you will find them more as humans than as workers. Then maybe then you'd accept them and speak better to them."

Hanabi frowned.

"Learn about their lives? But why should I-"  
"I went through a similar stage and I believe it's a very effective way to teach you about my employees and just how much I care for them. Though it seems that I only care for them on a business scale, I do even outside of my business life. Most have been through much worse than me due to poverty and other issues they had within the family. After learning about this, I was able to get closer with my employees and they like me well enough. If you do the same, I'm sure the same results would appear."

Hanabi sighed, crossing her arms she looked at her father asking, "Alright then. How do I start this … 'learning'?"  
Hiashi looked at her before simply stating, "Well, one good start would be to simply speak with my employees personally. Take a walk around my company, talk with anyone you want and try not to barge into their personal lives as you ask how their families are doing. If anyone of my employees are struggling in their families, I want you to visit their families and help out somehow; whether it be financially or some other issue, I want you to help my employees in need. Be charitable."

Hanabi made a disgusted face.

"What?! Speaking with them is bad enough, but acting as if I'm charitable?! Father, it's foolish! Why should I waste time and MONEY on them for that matter?! They're just workers! They hold no certain value in the business!"

Hiashi then angrily stood; pointing at the door he grimly spat, "LEAVE MY OFFICE NOW. I've heard enough from you. I explained and pointed out my validating points and you've refused to understand and accept them. Now leave me."

Hiashi had been offended by his daughter. She had called the workers in the business unvalued and served no purpose to waste her time on; for that, she was foolish and unworthy of HIS time.

"Father-"  
"GO. You will be detained to your room for two weeks, I expect you to know by heart the entire department functions on manufacturing by the end of your detainment."

Hanabi didn't understand why her father was angry at her and she grew frustrated to think she was doing something wrong every single time; what was it that she didn't understand?!

Hanabi stood, gave her father a grim bow before turning angrily on her heel out the door, her agents following her to properly detain her upon hearing the demands of her father, leaving Hiashi steaming off by the window as he looked down at the city from his office. He began facing something he never thought he would've thought; second thoughts. Regret. He slammed his fist on the table as he muttered in a frustrated manner, "Damn it …! I thought she'd be perfect … was I wrong?"

He then shook his head, telling himself that it was too late to go back on his word and to just stick with the current heiress he had in mind.  
"No … I made the right choice. Besides, there is no way I can just swap heiresses again, no, Hanabi will be perfect. She'll achieve things I couldn't and be a greater president than that of what his older sister ever could've been."

He shoved his worries and possible regrets to the back of his mind, assuring himself that his current heiress would be perfect before turning back to his work … not realizing that things would get just twice as more difficult than it should.

* * *

Hinata collapsed on her bed exhausted. Shopping with Kurenai was liked being ravaged by a bunch of wild dogs while being herded around like a stampede of elephants; she was feeling sore in her legs and arms – where Kurenai had her in a death grip dragging her around the complex of department stores talking to herself mostly while throwing items to the cashier to purchase.

Hinata had then been in utter relief when Kurenai decided to end their 'shopping fun' to eat dinner and settle in for the night. Now Hinata had begun to understand why Asuma always looked dead beat after him and his wife went out for the same 'shopping fun'. He always looked like he wanted to kill himself after going with her. Hinata could understand that now.

Hinata stayed on her side on the bed as she stared at her nails – filed and painted in clear gloss to give its lustrous shine of her healthy nails – the work of the workers at Mirror911.

This brought her mind drifting again to when she ran into Naruto after the makeover. Upon reflecting it, she felt her cheeks grow hot as she remembered his expression; his slack jaw and surprised eyes as he gawked at her when Kurenai drove her outside. Growing extremely shy and queasy about the encounter, Hinata grabbed her pillow and buried her face in it, drowning out a squeal of embarrassment.

It had been so sudden and unexpected; Hinata was half wishing he wouldn't see her and wishing that he would. Lately she had begun to feel strange about Naruto and whenever she saw him smile or laugh, her stomach flipped and she felt like fainting. He was incredible; a confident young man who probably had big dreams of his own and had the perseverance to do so.

Trying to get her mind off Naruto, Hinata turned on the TV in her room to observe the news; it had been a while since she last did and she liked the occasional update on what went around about the world.

She watched solemnly as she heard about a story about an elementary shooting that made Hinata want to cry watching the slide show of images and interviews with the survivors recounting the events of the horror. Hinata kept a tissue box handy.

After the depressing news, and a few more to follow, Hinata was ready to turn it off again. Thinking it would've been better if she hadn't listened to it at all and spend her time thinking about Naruto instead. But when she moved for the remote, the newscaster spoke, "…_and with some breaking news that has the public in question; the Hyuuga secret has been exposed. Now the secret was revealed to the news by a reliable source of which no one knows of, when the anonymous leaker told us that a Hyuuga secret has been hidden from our very eyes, and Jeff Hawkson is here today, reporting live at the Hyuuga Headquarters to report on the shocking news."_

Hinata's hand stopped short, her eyes glued to the screen in shock as she found herself rooted in place, unable to turn her attention away; she listened involuntarily to the screen blink to a man standing in front of the Hyuuga building.

"_Thank you Sherry, now Jeff Hawkson reporting live at the Hyuuga Enterprise building – now recent news has gone out that the Hyuuga family have been keeping a rather questionable secret from us. Their eldest daughter, who was long thought to be heiress, has gone MISSING. Though they had shown no signs of concern, and later we were told that it was that they had given the heiress title to their youngest daughter, Hanabi Hyuuga. Though the news were quite shocking, everyone is now wondering WHY did she go missing, HOW did she go missing, and just exactly what has been going on with the Hyuuga family? Here is Hanabi Hyuuga coming right now, let's get an answer from her."_

Hinata felt her heart jump as she saw the camera swivel to a young girl walking out of the building surrounded by her agents, crowds of news reporters swarming her as they held up microphones to her in attempts to get an answer. She kept her distance, shaking her head and shouting something over the voices, bombarded with questions.

"_Do you know anything about the matter with your missing sister?"  
"What does your father think about the situation?"  
"How do you feel about being the heiress?"  
"Do you have any idea where your sister might've gone?"  
"Why does your father not care that one of his daughters has disappeared?"  
"Did she run away or did something happen to her?"  
"Tell us, have the Hyuuga been hiding any other secrets?"_

The last question seemed to strike Hanabi because she stopped walking, she turned to the cameras and expecting hands with microphones before bitterly exclaiming straight at the screen, "_The Hyuuga is a proud company and such rumors created upon the mere disappearance of my sister is foolish. The Hyuuga have hidden no secrets and it wasn't a secret when my father proclaimed to the public that I was made heiress. My sister on the matters are personal family complications that we do NOT wish to speak to the public of. There will be family problems we alone should know about, and other news that the public should be aware about. This is not something the public should concern themselves with and the Hyuuga holds no blame upon the disappearance of my sister. I know nothing of it and so will you."_

Hinata felt something catch in her throat, she wanted to scream. She had the sudden urge to throw the remote at the screen, to thrash the room and cry about everything that was going on. They didn't care. They didn't care that Hinata had given up her life of comfort for their sakes and to get out of their faces to now struggle in her life as a writer – it wasn't a harsh life, luckier than most, but it still stung to think her father and sister held a grudge against her yet still. She left to escape the pain of being unwanted and despised by her father and sister, but even being here far away from them; she was still being hurt by their words. Where did she have to go to escape? Why was it her that always got hurt in the end?

"_Hanabi Hyuuga has shared her thoughts on the situation and shows little concerns for her sister. Are the Hyuuga family cold and heartless people who could care less about their missing heiress? Or is it something more than that? Perhaps the Hyuuga had gotten rid of their eldest to open up the position to the youngest. Currently the workers of the company are in shock and outrage that the Hyuuga have kept this particular part of the news of Hanabi being the heiress away from their ears. Here's one of the workers at the enterprise, and his opinions on the matter."_

The screen turned to a man next to him as Jeff asked, "_How do you feel about the secret that the Hyuuga have hidden until it was made known today?"_

"_I feel absolutely betrayed; not until today had I found out that Hanabi was the heiress. I had always been told that Hinata Hyuuga, the eldest, was the heiress. I'm stunned to think that now Hanabi is heiress. When did this been known? I certainly never heard about it. Now that I found out about this, I'm wondering what more has the President, Hiashi Hyuuga, has hidden from me, but not just me, the entire company."_

Jeff Hawkson turned to the camera now a big concerned.

"_Upon several other encounters to speak with the employers of the Hyuuga Company, they have all recounted the same thing; they had never heard of Hanabi being the heiress until today when the news was spread about five years ago. Are the employers being lied to now? What more lies and secrets are the Hyuuga hiding from the public; but more importantly, to their own employers? Reporting live from the Hyuuga head quarters, this was Jeff Hawkson, reporting on the head story; Swapped Heiresses, Missing Hyuuga."_

Hinata then turned it off, a bit pale and shaken by the response of the story. Why was her family trying so hard to make Hinata appear as if … she never existed?

Hinata slipped into bed to cry silently to herself, acting as if she was sleeping when Kurenai came to sleep in the bed next to her, her happy voice in contrary to Hinata's tears, "Good night Hinata! Tomorrow will be an even better day!"

* * *

Naruto and his gang began to move out; taking the car, Kiba decided to drive. Now Naruto sat at shot-gun with his cell phone in his ear as he spoke with the person on the other end, now wincing as he held the phone away from his ear, a very loud and angry female shouting on the phone.

"…_ARE YOU F*CKING INSANE?! KABUTO IS A VERY DANGEROUS MAN AND YOU WANT TO GO AND TALK TO HIM?! WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS, A TEA PARTY?! YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF – AND EVERYONE ELSE – KILLED TONIGHT!"_

Kiba grinned as he drove carelessly, the car swerving dangerously on edge as he turned to the highway.

"Gee, she's taking it pretty well."  
"Oh shut up Kiba."  
Naruto put the phone back up to his ear as he looked at Sasuke through the rear view mirror, Sasuke's expression bleak as Naruto spoke with Sakura.

'_That little b*tch … he doesn't even want to talk to her.'_

"Don't worry Sakura; we don't plan on making this turn out to be a suicide mission. We'll be careful and besides, we're all very capable men here, you should just worry about yourself and your pharmacy."

Sakura fell silent, and then he heard her scoff at the other end of the phone.

"_I still can't believe you guys are still going. Of all things, I can understand you – being an idiot – wanting to go head strong to go meet this Kabuto, but for Sasuke to agree with you … I'm wondering if he's thinking straight."_

Sasuke looked up at her words, a look in his eyes as Naruto laughed.

"Well let me assure you on something; Sasuke wouldn't have agreed to this plan if he hadn't thought that the plan was safe enough, he wouldn't have agreed to it in the first place. Besides, Shikamaru planned it out so it should be just fine."

Sakura sighed.

"_I just wish I was there with you guys; didn't I tell you that you'd need a medic around?! Kabuto uses poison against his enemies, you guys are dead if you get hit by one."_

Naruto grinned as he watched the night flash by his window, his laugh seeming to calm everyone in the car.

"Yeah, sorry for not asking you to come along. It probably would've been smart to have brought you along, but I didn't bother asking because if you came along, we'd have to worry about protecting you and ourselves and that would've been a bit difficult to do."

"…_. This is something Sasuke would've said."_

Naruto exchanged a look with Kiba before replying, "Don't take it personally; Sasuke is just trying to keep you safe from harm's way I'm sure."

Everyone looked at Sasuke who kept his head down, his eyes away from everybody's face as he pretended to appear asleep.

"_Okay then … but if you guys die, you're the first I'm going to beat up Naruto. If you're dead, I'll curse at your grave you dumbass."_

"Feeling the love Sakura, thanks for being concerned. We'll be fine, I promise. You should go to sleep now, seriously, it's midnight."

"_Yeah, I know. Tell Sasuke that I said hi. You guys be safe."_

"Yup, yup. Now hang up already."

"_Bye Naruto."_

"Bye!"  
When he heard her hang up, Naruto whipped around in his seat and chucked the phone at Sasuke's head, angering him as Sasuke snapped, "What the f*ck – WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

Naruto hissed angrily at him as he snapped back, "For being a jackass at Sakura. God, it annoys me to death when you avoid her. What the f*cks your problem with her anyway?! She loves you and you're just pushing her away every chance you get; why won't you date her or something?!"

Sasuke glared back.

"I'm not interested in having a relationship with Sakura right now. I just want to deal with my brother."

"You little b*tch, what a sorry excuse! At least talking with her would be good enough, but avoiding her completely is something only a jerk would do."

"Why are you chewing out on me about what I do in concerns of Sakura?! If I don't want to talk to her, that's MY decision! I don't want to bother with her and her feelings, it only gets in the way-"

"Fine then, just answer this question; do you love her?"

Sasuke bit her tongue, a bit stumped on the question as Naruto held his gaze irritably. When he didn't answer straight away, Naruto slammed his fist on the car side angrily, shaking the car that Kiba was still driving carelessly with. The wheel almost slipped from Kiba's grasp as the car tilted sideways.

"Whoa~! Easy on the car Naruto!"

"God damn it, ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION SASUKE!"

"WHAT THE F*CK IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WHY SHOULD I ANSWER THAT?!"

"Because this is Sakura we're talking about here and she's been waiting patiently for some kind of an answer from you. If you don't love her, tell her so she doesn't have to spend the rest of her life in unrequited love and move on happily; but if you love her, for God's sake – ASK HER OUT!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto.

"Why are you so pushy about this?"  
"Because I only want Sakura to be happy. She doesn't deserve your cold shoulder."

"Didn't you love her? Why don't you ask her out?"

Naruto's angry face softened into what seemed half between sad and regretful.

"I would've … but how can I when she's a friend of mine that's in love with my other good friend? I don't want to complicate her life already. Besides, I don't really love her. It was just a phase I suppose, something I used as an excuse to get acquainted with her I suppose … but enough about me, this is about YOU mister!"

Naruto pointed an accused finger behind his seat at Sasuke as he kept his body twisted around to face him bitterly.

"You knew from the start that she loved you. You were always there for her, until now, you decided to walk out of her life. Do you have any idea how bad she feels right now? She thinks she's done something wrong because you walked out on her."

Sasuke crossed his legs and his arms as he huffed, looking to one side trying to avoid Naruto's glare and to avoid looking like he was genuinely concerned for her.

"I didn't walk out of her life; I'm just putting some distance between us for her sake. She'd just get more disappointments in her life if I stuck around. She's better off with someone else."

Naruto held a disbelieving look on Sasuke before sitting back in his seat glaring ahead of him.

"You're impossible Sasuke. Keep thinking like that and you'll never know what you've been missing."

Sasuke glowered as he sat in the back and the other boys shared looks. This was the first time they ever saw Sasuke been talked down; guess Sakura was a sensitive subject for both boys.

Kiba suddenly stopped the car, forcing everyone to slam into the car as Naruto cursed, "God Kiba! Can you work on your sh*tty driving for once?!"

Kiba frowned.

"Well I'm sorry that I suck at driving, I just happened to PARK here. Is there something wrong with my parking?!"  
Neji shook his head as everyone stared at him, "You call that parking? I thought you had stopped in the middle of the road or slammed into something …"

Naruto and others stumbled out of the car, glad to have escaped Kiba's sucky driving and Shikamaru moaned as he held his head that was a bit dizzy after standing on solid ground.

"Geez … remind me next time to NEVER let Kiba drive again."  
"Hey!"  
"Let's get a move on boys, time to stop wasting time."

The boys followed Naruto as they entered this 'black market pit stop' which happened to be an abandoned construction site of what would've been a factory. Now it was one of the black market posts.

When they approached the 'entrance', a dark shadow stepped out to meet them.

"State your business."  
"We're here to discuss a few things with Kabuto."  
The figure narrowed his eyes at Naruto and his friends before asking, "Name?"  
"Naruto."

"What's your gang prominent in?"  
"The city; though we're more active in the suburbs."

"You're the one they call the 'Demon Fox' aren't you?"  
Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his head embarrassingly.

"I honestly don't know why I'm called that. I'm not a demon and I don't' resemble a fox or anything …"

Shikamaru jabbed a thumb at Naruto as he bluntly added, "Well I suppose they called him 'fox' because of the whisker scars he has on his face. A common misunderstanding. But they call him 'demon fox' because when he fights, he's like a freaking demon. Not to mention he's merciless when he's fighting a bunch of jerks."

"Shikamaru, now that's not really why-"

"So you're the one who took down thirty gangs … and three of them being one of the top twelve?"

Naruto held up a finger as if to make a point.

"Oh those well, through some difficulty we did, but they were just being a bunch of jackasses-"

The man sighed, crossing his arms.

"Just tell me what you wish to speak with Kabuto with and I'll let you in then."

Naruto looked at Shikamaru who spoke up instead.

"We need to discuss about a prior drug dealing that he had with the Akatsuki. Just a few questions."

He eyed them suspiciously before he held up a hand, "Hold on, let me ask him …"

He held a hand to his earpiece before turning to one side, murmuring in a soft whisper to the person on the other end.

During this time Naruto nodded to Kiba who held out a hand to Neji; Neji wetted a cloth with a drug before handing it to Kiba who held it ready in his hand inside his pocket. The man finished speaking and nodded before turning back to them.  
"I'm sorry. Kabuto will not be speaking with you. You are to leave immediately-"

Shikamaru and Naruto grabbed the man by his arms and Kiba walked up swiftly twisting around him to press the cloth up to the man's mouth and nose. He struggled, trying to jerk himself away, but by then the drug got into his system and he fainted, slouched in the arms of Naruto and Shikamaru. Naruto nodded to Kiba.

"Good job."  
Kiba disgustedly stuffed it into his pocket, his face crinkling in disgust.

"Ugh … I hate this smell … it's so strong."

Then Shikamaru and Kiba moved the man somewhere and secured him so that he wouldn't be able to move and get up when he came back to his senses and they moved as a group through the doors.

They were careful to avoid the few men patrolling the halls of the factory, moving in the shadows and occasionally bringing down a few of the men that grew close to noticing them or were in the way of their path.

Naruto couldn't believe how easy it was … almost too easy.

They ended up at a door that was heavily guarded by at least twelve guards; he turned to his friends before muttering.

"Okay, Sasuke and Neji, take 'em out. But guys … this is getting a bit too easy, so be on guard …"

They nodded and watched Sasuke and Neji move quickly to both ends of the hall, waiting for the right moment when all twelve guards would look off down either sides of the hall.

When they did, Sasuke and Neji snaked in, grabbed two men each before slipping back to put them out.

The guards were disturbed to find four of the twelve suddenly missing, setting them on edge as one of them told his fellow guards, "Check the halls …"

Naruto and the others pressed themselves up against the shadows of the walls, watching as Sasuke and Neji worked swiftly to take down the men quietly, skillful as they dragged each man off one by one under their noses. There remained one man who stood in fear in the quiet hall.

"Sh*t! Kabuto!"  
He lifted a hand to his ear piece to warn the man, but then Neji grabbed the man's wrist and snapped it, pressuring certain points in his neck to stop him from shouting out and Sasuke swept in to punch him swiftly in the gut and knocking him out. The two dragged him away before signaling the others to move in.

Naruto jogged for the door and opened it none too cautiously; knowing that Kabuto knew they were here.  
"Had fun taking down my dogs?"

* * *

Naruto wasn't surprised that a man stood with a gun at his head, he stood unmoving however, being cautious not to give the trigger-happy man any reason to shoot him.

"We just need to speak with you-"

"I have no intentions to speak to little squirts like you. Especially Itachi's little brother Sasuke."

Sasuke made a move to charge Kabuto, but Shikamaru and Kiba held him back, hissing at him to cool down.

"F*ck it Sasuke, Naruto is at gun point, think for a moment will you?!"

Kabuto smirked as he pushed his glasses up his face.

"I suppose you wanted to know about the Akatsuki I was drug dealing with – too bad, I'm not going to tell you squat about them."  
"We just want to know where they are."

"Forget it. Leave and I might let you guys be in one piece at the end."

"Mother f*cker-"  
"Sasuke, shut up!"

"Such a rude boy … Itachi has told me a lot about you before."

Kabuto grinned at Sasuke cruelly.

"He told me how he wished he killed you when he had the chance."

Sasuke flashed at Naruto's side twisting the gun out of Kabuto's hand, the gun firing off at their feet, barely missing Naruto's left foot. Naruto danced away in shock as Sasuke tore the gun away and slammed Kabuto up against a wall, the gun pressed up to Kabuto's temples as he hissed, "You're going to tell me where that asshole went. I have to deal with him and I'm not letting some stubborn drug dealing sh*t not tell me."

Kabuto laughed, glaring at Sasuke with venom dripping from his words, "You're worthless to him. He doesn't care for you and he swore that the next time he saw you he'd kill you. You better just run off and stay out of his way; unless you want to die that is."

Sasuke clicked a bullet in place. Kabuto laughed again.

"You really going to shoot me? Go ahead, both ways; you're going to benefit nothing from any of this."

Sasuke was about to pull the trigger when Naruto tore the gun away from his grip, throwing it to the other side of the room.

"F*ck the gun. We have other ways to find out where the Akatsuki is."

Sasuke glared at Naruto, still holding his grip on Kabuto bitterly.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"  
Naruto eyed Kabuto with disdain.

"We could torture him. Shino is awfully good at that; aren't you Shino?"  
Shino smiled behind the collar of his coat.

"Oh yes, very good …"

Shikamaru was observing a file on a table and he picked it up, walking up to Naruto and Sasuke waving the folder with a grin.

"Or we could just take this and leave."

Naruto held out his hand for the file and he flipped through it; profiles on each Akatsuki member along with their 'frequent meeting places'. Naruto grinned at Shikamaru before patting him on the back.

"Good work."  
Kabuto suddenly surged forward, slamming his forehead into Sasuke, stunning him as he fell backwards; Kabuto leaped over him and grabbed Naruto's wrists in attempts to take back the folder.

"F*ck! Kiba!"

Naruto tossed the folder to Kiba who took it and stuffed it inside his backpack – zipping it up as if to make it final. Kabuto reared to go after Kiba, but Naruto grabbed Kabuto and hissed at him, "Oh no you don't, you're going nowhere."

Naruto slammed his knee into Kabuto's gut who coughed, Naruto delivering solid punch into his face.

Sasuke cursed as he got back to his feet, his vision blurry from being hit in the head hard.

"Damn it! That little f*cker …"

Shikamaru helped Sasuke up as he muttered, "We gotta get out of here before things get ugly –NARUTO! CLEAN IT UP AND LET'S GET GOING! I doubt this place in empty, others will come in here and start attacking-"

"GIVE THAT FOLDER BACK YOU LITTLE B*TCHES-"

"SHUT THE F*CK UP B*STARD!"  
Naruto saw Kabuto draw a knife, he lunged and Naruto ducked, swerving to one side to grab Kabuto's forearm before elbowing him forcefully into the chest, making Kabuto drop the knife involuntarily. He gripped Kabuto's arm before throwing him up and over his back, slamming him on the ground back first.

As the air was forced out of his lungs, Naruto was already on top of him punching him senseless.

Voices were heard down the hall and Shikamaru cursed; the rest of their gang had already ran off to the car upon Naruto's orders to get going, but Naruto was still fighting Kabuto …

"_Damn it Naruto! You always have to drag out a fight like this!"_

Shikamaru left Sasuke's side for a moment to close the doors, and drag the desks to barricade the door; working quickly as he began to hear fists banging on the door irritably. Sasuke finally got to his senses and glared at Kabuto who had managed to squirm out of Naruto's grip and kicked Naruto in the chin, forcing him to fall backwards – Kabuto revealed a syringe as he dove in at Naruto.  
"You little monster! I'll f*cking kill you-!"  
Sasuke was suddenly beside the two as he delivered a rib cracking kick at Kabuto, sending him flying to one side of the room screaming in agony of his broken ribs and the syringe disappeared off somewhere out of reach.

Sasuke looked to Naruto hastily, "Geez Naruto! Get your ass moving, let's go!"

Naruto scrambled to his knees and they both made a move for the door only to find Shikamaru herding them the other direction.

"Not that way! You wanna get killed?! Go out the window!"  
Naruto and Sasuke both headed for the window, Shikamaru hot on their heels. Sasuke and Shikamaru got through first, Naruto staying a bit behind to make sure they got through first. Then he himself moved to get out when he felt a hand grab his ankle. Naruto shot a surprised look down at his foot and jostled the hand, trying to get Kabuto off his heel.

He glared at Naruto as he got to his knees, one hand on his rib section as he pulled Naruto closer.

"You and your friends aren't going anywhere … until I get MY F*CKING FOLDER BACK!"

Naruto cursed; stepped back away from the window he punched Kabuto. He shouted back at Sasuke and Shikamaru as the door began to break.

"Get the hell out of here!"

Shikamaru made a move to move back to Naruto when Sasuke grabbed Shikamaru by the back of his jacket and pulled him away, jumping off the factory's wall away from Naruto and Kabuto.

"NARUTO!"

Shikamaru and Sasuke landed roughly on the grass, Shikamaru twisting his ankle.

"Sh*t! I twisted it!"

Sasuke shot a worrisome look back up at where they had jumped away from.

"_Damn you Naruto … jump out already!"_

That's when they heard the gun shot.

* * *

Hinata jolted awake disturbed that night. Something had woken her … but what? She hated these moments; premonitions that something bad had happened … it scared Hinata. She hugged the blankets to herself as she reached out for her fox doll; that was when she realized she had left it at home. She whimpered to herself as she simply pressed her hands to her chest, listening to her own heartbeat to assure herself that nothing was wrong … that everything was okay.

* * *

The next morning Hinata woke to the sound of the TV on.

"…_And today's weather forecast for the day is mostly sunny with a mild wind heading down northeast, seems that we'll have beautiful weather around this afternoon…"_

Kurenai walked back in the room holding two cups of tea, smiling at Hinata as she handed her a cup.

"Good morning! Here's some tea."

Hinata thanked Kurenai as she sipped the warm drink cautiously, watching the weather forecast drone on as Kurenai reached for her phone and walked out of the room to talk to an agent.

"… _and the weather today seems to be- BREAKING NEWS."_

Hinata almost spilled her tea when the weather forecast was suddenly cut off to show a news reporter, a grim look on her face as she relayed the news.

"_Gun shots have been reported at midnight last night, please be on alert for any gunmen and gangs; and be on the lookout for a drug dealer named Kabuto. If you meet any of these men, please contact the police and stay out of harm's way; warning – DO NOT CONFRONT THESE MEN ALONE. Please contact the police to report their whereabouts. Thank you."_

Hinata grew worried, gun men? Gangs? Wait … Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin as her cell phone rang – an unknown caller ID blinking on the screen.

"_Who …"_

Normally would click 'ignore', but she felt that this wasn't a credit card company or something …

She clicked 'answer' before lifting the phone to her ear.  
"H-Hello?"

"_Hinata? This is Neji, we have a problem and I need your help."_

"W-What do you need help with …"

"…_. Do you have money on you? I need you to bail me out of jail …"_

Hinata stood up suddenly, shocked at the news.

"W-Why are y-you in j-jail?!"

"_Got in a sticky situation. You heard about the shooting right? Well we were sort of dealing with some bad guys. Think you can bail me out?"_

"Of course N-Neji."

He fell silent on the other end before adding cautiously; "_Um … I know I'm asking a lot but ... not just me, but all seven of us?"_

Hinata hesitated, seven?

"U-Uh, I'll s-see what I can d-do."

"_Thank you Hinata. Thank you. I've got to go now, they won't let me talk on the phone no longer than three minutes-"_

Hinata heard the phone get hung up, static filling her ears as she hung up herself. Kurenai walked in smiling, "Okay Hinata! I arranged a few things with the agent and – hey. You okay?"  
Hinata gave Kurenai a small smile, trying to make it seem alright.

"O-Oh … just fine. B-But Kurenai, I-I have to g-go do something real quick … my c-cousin got in j-jail and I need to b-bail him and h-his friends o-out …"

Kurenai blinked in surprise.

"What?! How'd they get in jail?!"

Hinata checked her money before stuffing it back in her purse muttering, "T-That's what I'd like to know."

She shook her head before grabbing her own bag and she dialed a number on her phone to call the limousine.

"Look, I'll go with you. And I'll pay for the bail; I don't want you to have to waste your money on something as ridiculous as this!"

Hinata tried to talk to her, but Kurenai shook her head, took Hinata by the arm and dragged her out to meet the limo up front, ready to go to the police station where the boys were in jail …

* * *

"…aw geez! How hard is it to ask for some water?"

The sheriff looked up from his deck of cards snapping at Shikamaru, "Shut up! Unless you want us to plug it for you. Besides, we JUST gave you some water."

Shikamaru sighed in frustration, "Geez, how many times do I have to tell you?! I have seven other friends in here that are all thirsty and the big guy over here drank it all. We still need some more water!"

The man looked back down at his card heartlessly with his friends.

"Forget it kid, just sit tight. You told us that a friend was coming to bail you out, until then you can wait a few more minutes."

Shikamaru glared holes into the man, half wishing he could break through the bars and smack that man silly. He sighed before turning back around and sitting on the floor next to his friends, a sad-looking Choji muttering, "Sorry Shikamaru … I keep forgetting to share."

Kiba, who sat leaning up against the wall grunted, "Nobody expected you to share. No worries Choji."

Lee patted Choji on the shoulder sympathetically, "All is well good friend! For now we should all just focus on sticking together and keeping our youth filled spirits up!"

Kiba sighed, sliding to the floor completely before turning away from him.

"For God's sake Lee … shut up for once in your life can't you? Nobody is in the mood right now …"

Neji sat patiently in one corner as he announced, "She's coming to bail us out. Don't worry, Hinata will do something."

Sasuke who stood leaning back on the wall with arms crossed hissed, "Well she better hurry the hell up. We don't have time to waste being here."

Kiba gave Sasuke a dirty look as growled, "Oh shut your trap Sasuke. Because of you and your stupid brother, we went through some sh*t last night. So take all that crap back up your sh*tty ass and shut the f*ck up-"

Shikamaru gave Kiba a sharp glare.

"You be quiet Kiba. Everyone is grumpy; so lay off Sasuke."

Sasuke gave Kiba a threatening glare before submitting to stay quiet. Shino eyed the two with disdain before staying quiet, deciding it would be better for everyone and himself.

The sheriff opened the jail door and the boys looked up at him in surprise.

"Well lucky for you kids you get to get out of jail; all seven of you. I suppose she'll be paying for your other friend who's at the hospital?"

Shikamaru looked at the boys before standing and limping out the door with his friends, nobody was sure how they'd ask Hinata about that, would she end up in shock?

When they got out to the lobby, Hinata saw Neji and ran to him with a hug.  
"Neji!"

"Hinata ..."

"W-Why are you a-all ... hurt?"

"We got into a fight with nasty guys with guns, they were a bit trigger-happy with their guns."

Hinata swept a concerned look at the boys before pointing out in surprise.

"H-Huh? N-Neji ... where's Naruto?"

Neji shot his friends a look.

_What do I tell her?_

Shikamaru shook his head.

_Tell her the truth._

_"_Yeah missy, you paid for all seven of your friends, but you forgot about one of them. That one is currently at the hospital. You gonna pay for his bailing?"

Hinata stared at the sheriff.

"E-excuse me?"  
He looked up at her with a quizzical expression, he further explained, "Well you did hear about the shooting right? How the hell these kids got out without a bloody bullet injury is out of my thinking box. But one of their friends got shot, pretty bad if you ask me. One hell of an injury - I'm still surprised that he made it, considering he's at level four in critical condition-"

"Shut the f*ck up you!"

Kiba glared at the sheriff who looked at the group incredulously; all he had done was explain, he was then handed bitterly another bailing payment by the long-haired beauty; who suddenly glared at him with such malice that he thought he'd die.

"_You need to learn when people want you to **shut up.**"_

He swallowed and nodded, Kurenai turning away from him as she comforted Hinata, who now stood stunned and in shock; tears running down her face unconsciously.

Neji wiped a tear away, patting her gently on the shoulder.

"Hinata, it's okay. Naruto will be fine. He's one of the strongest guys I know and he's been through worse than this. The worst he went through was when he had shot in the shoulder."

Kiba grinned, trying to help.

"Yeah! Like, there is no way in this f*cking world that he's going to die; just because he was shot in the chest doesn't mean he's going to die! Even though he is at level four with a forty percent of surviving-"

Shino grabbed Kiba by his hood and dragged him away, an angry Kiba shouting at him, "Hey! What the - let go of me Shino! What is your problem?!"

Shino jabbed a finger at his face before growling behind his jacket, "You. Need. To. Shut. Up."

Then he jabbed a finger back at Hinata and Kiba turned to look at her and paled when he realized she had only started to break down completely.

"Holy sh*t! I-I didn't mean to freak her out! I just-"

Shino shook his head at Kiba.

"You need to understand these social cues; shut up when you need to shut up."

Kiba glared at Shino.

"Says the anti-social one."  
"I can socialize when I want to. I just don't do it often."  
"Yeah, yeah, sure."

Kurenai had finally managed to coax Hinata into the limousine to take her to Naruto, the boys piling in after her to follow along. Sasuke, for the first time, felt a slight twinge of guilt.

_Because of me, I had Naruto put his ass on the line. Sh*t ... if only Itachi hadn't - none of this would've happened ... God ... is it all my fault?_

Hinata felt devastated; the Naruto she had only known for a short while had somehow got twisted up in a situation with some bad men and got shot in the chest - God, who SURVIVED from something like that?! Hinata found herself praying halfway to the hospital, _Dear God ... save his life. Save the man who doesn't deserve any of this ... please ... save him._

* * *

Naruto couldn't remember anything very well. He always faded in and out of his conscious, the doctors murmuring around him as they worked on him.

_He isn't going to make it ... he's losing a lot of blood._

_The bullet shattered inside him - it's ricocheted everywhere ... we can't keep up with his condition. We need to remove the bullet fragments!_

_...God damn it! Where's the blood transfer? There's no f*cking way that we're out of blood for his blood type already! Check again damn it!_

By the sound of it, Naruto assumed he wasn't doing so hot and the pain was so intense that he could barely think to himself now, much less keep conscious enough. He was shot, that much he knew very well when Kabuto had pulled out a hidden gun from his pockets and pressed it up against Naruto's chest - he had felt the cold tip of the weapon as Kabuto hissed at him, "_You messed with the wrong guy b*tch. Now die."_

Naruto heard the gun go off, Kabuto rolling away from him before running away. Naruto collapsed there and stared in shock at his own blood.

_I've been shot ... again._

Only this time, Naruto wondered if he'd be able to even survive this one.

* * *

When they all came running, Sakura was already there, talking and crying to herself that Naruto - who she kept calling 'stupid, f*cking b*tch' - would be alright.  
Sasuke ran up to her and gripped her shoulder, shaking her back to reality before asking firmly, "Sakura! How is he? Has he gotten any better?!"

Sakura stared at Sasuke before grabbing his arms desperately.

"Oh my God ... Sasuke ... Sasuke, why didn't you stop this? Why couldn't you save him? You know how a f*cking idiot he is ... why didn't you do something? F*ck you Sasuke! F*ck you!"

Sakura beat at his chest, sobbing in his arms as he stayed there shocked, feeling her words slap him - hard. Was it really his fault? How could he have done anything? The man had a gun and he was suffering a concussion; he would've helped if it weren't for that concussion!

Hinata stood to one side watching the pink haired stranger beat at Sasuke pointlessly as she cried; was she worried about Naruto too? Sasuke asked Sakura again, "By God Sakura, how is Naruto?!"

Sakura stifled her sobs before managing to choke out, "He's i-in horrible c-condition. F*ck it, they told me h-he might not m-make it - OH GOD, HE NEEDS A BLOOD TRANSFER! HE NEEDS F*CKING BLOOD TO SURVIVE - GOD DAMN THAT IDIOT! WHAT DID I TELL HIM?! HE'D GET KILLED OUT THERE, HE'D GET HIMSELF HURT!"

The boys shot each other worried looks.

"Blood transfer? Who ... do any of us have a compatible match with him?"

Kiba looked around hopefully, his heart only sinking lower as they all shook their head.

"With Naruto? God no, he's got that f*cking alpha's blood, no one here has his blood type; his is really rare and is always on demand at hospitals. We're f*cking damned if there isn't any blood left for him to have ..."

Shikamaru put on a grim expression as he carefully added, "...we might lose him this time."

Hinata let out another sob, Neji offering his shoulder for her to sob on.

The doctors suddenly emerged from the operation room, setting everyone edge. Sakura stumbled up to the surgeon with a wary look at the blood on their gloves, she asked him with her voice quivering, "H-How is N-Naruto?"

The surgeon shook his head, sighing as he pulled his mask down, "Mr. Uzumaki isn't fairing very well. We ran short of his blood supply and for the nearest hospital to send us their blood supply would take up well to thirty minutes; Uzumaki doesn't have that kind of time. He's quickly losing blood and his blood vessels were ruptured by the bullet that shattered inside his body. It's disturbed his flow of blood and with the lack of blood in his body, he'll only begin to slowly die if we don't get him some blood. Perhaps any of his friends have a compatible blood match?"

Sakura looked hopefully around; all the boys looking down at their shoes, no one did ...

*****Shino suddenly asked the doctor a question, "Excuse me ... but what blood type is Naruto?"

The doctor quickly answered, "He's blood type O."  
Shino scratched his chin before asking the obvious, "Okay ... so if I happen to be blood type O as well... does that mean I'm a match...? I don't know much about blood so-"  
The doctor nodded hastily, "Yes, yes! Blood type O is universal; this is perfect! This is usually high on demand and short on supply, are you blood type O?"

Shino nodded, shocking the boys.

"Whoa~! Shino! Since when were you blood type O?"

"My father and mother were type O, naturally I was too."

"God .. saved by Shino."

"Please, let us hurry and take some blood from you; are you willing to donate?"

Shino nodded, pulling a sleeve back as he followed a nurse.

"Absolutely; to save my idiotic friend, yes."

Sakura collapsed to the floor, blinking tears she hugged herself.

"Oh my God ... how is it possible? How is it that he survives ... every f*cking time? Uzumaki ... he really is something ... that f*cking idiot! I'll punch him dead myself when I see him!"

Sasuke managed to finally coax Sakura off the floor and into a chair, Neji looked at Hinata worryingly.

"Are you alright? You seem pale ..."

Hinata closed her eyes and whispered, "Thank you God ... thank you."

* * *

_Holy sh*t ... this guy is f*cking lucky. Who would've thought one of his friends had a blood type O?! Damn ... he's one lucky guy._

_...I've stitched up his blood vessels and his heart seems to be beating just fine now. He's stopped bleeding and he seems to be fine. But we won't know until tomorrow, it'd be best to wait and see ..._

He was alive? He actually survived? God .. he really was lucky. Naruto would've smiled, but he was slipping into unconsciousness, losing himself into momentary oblivion ...

* * *

The Akatsuki assembled in the dark room as they came; the last member coming inside.

"_Sorry I'm late."_

_"Itachi, you know better than to arrive late. Usually you're one of the first to arrive."_

_"I know, sorry."_

_"Whatever, we will begin this meeting."_

The man cloaked in his Akatsuki cloak glared around the room at his fellow members.

"_We have a bit of a fussy gang lately. A bit too nosy than usual. The Demon Fox and his gangly friends recently harassed Kabuto earlier today, gave Kabuto quite the shock."_

Another member asked bluntly, "_So what? You want to shake 'em off our tails."_

_"No, I want something much more than that ..."_

The Akatsuki members listened intently as their leader exclaimed, "_I want him and his friends annihilated. Begin their annihilation tomorrow morning, I will not tolerate anything more and nothing less; you have been warned."_

Itachi grinned to himself, he brought out his gun and re-checked for ammo before clicking it back shut, twirling the gun playfully between his fingers.

"_This will be fun ... I get to see my little brother again this time. I wonder who will win ..."_

* * *

**I had fun writing this chapter, though near the end I sort of half dozed while writing it, but I hope it's still good enough. I hope this chapter was likable and that it doesn't bore anyone. So Naruto get's shot ... will he survive? Dun-dun-dun! (Of course he will, we all know that. For God's sake, this wouldn't be a NaruHina story if Naruto died so early - not that I plan to kill him ... or do I? MWAHAHAHAHA - sorry guys, just pulling your legs there. XD JK!) **

**I plan to bring out Sakura more in the next chapter, and by then I hope I've introduced Ino and Tenten, they're being neglected. Plus I need to engage Choji and Lee in the story more so they don't fade away and become background props - I hate it when that happens. But unfortunately there are so many characters in Naruto that I wonder how Kishimoto has manged to rotate between them so easily - it's so hard to keep every character as part of the story! Urgh! But I'm trying for your sakes, so I hope I receive lots of support.**

**Thank you again and the next chapter should be out maybe a tomorrow or the day after tomorrow; I've been awfully tired lately and I might be catching a cold ...**

**(Author Note: 2/9/14)**

***Alright guys, thank you for pointing out that .. embarrassing error of mine about blood type. I myself don't know a lot about it so forgive me for my blunder there. I changed it courtesy of the information CarolinaEirasSa provided me so I hope it's accurate now. Thank you also to Dage and Phone (guest comment? not sure) who also mentioned my error. Thank you and I will take this embarrassment shamelessly; people make mistakes I'm sure. So I'll just learn from this mistake; sorry people! T^T**


	4. Chapter 4: Akatsuki Strikes

**Chapter four! Yay! I hope this one is entertaining since there's going to be some action in this one. I have someone requesting for Akamaru to come out, he's sort of mentioned in this chapter, but I have a reason why he's not introduced yet. You'll see why in this chapter**

**Thank you everyone for your positive support and I'm really excited to continue this story. My author notes for this one is going to be a whole lot shorter since I have nothing much to say.**

**RECAP:**

**Hinata is burdened with the memory of her disgrace in the family and was again reminded when she saw the news of her family facing an angry public about Hinata's disappearance. While Hinata is struggling to deal with the news, Naruto and the gang goes out to meet Kabuto at the black market post. It doesn't end very well when Naruto receives a deadly shot in the chest and he faces critcal danger but is quickly saved as Shino delivers a blood transfer. They got a folder on the Akatsuki, but that would have to wait as Naruto is needed to heal quickly if they're to proceed on locating the Akatsuki and deal with Itachi. Little did they know that they would no longer be chasing them; the Akatsuki strikes back now.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Akatsuki Strikes**

Naruto was conscious a day after his surgery; late at evening where his friends had still stuck around to be with him.

"Holy sh*t! Guys! Guys! He's awake! The little f*cker is awake!"

Naruto recognized Kiba's voice and groaned, wanting to roll away but winced in pain when he attempted to.

'_Sh*t, it hurts …'_

"Oh God … where am I?"  
Everyone hurried to Kiba's side as they all gave Naruto mixed expressions.

Shikamaru appeared genuinely relieved.

"Good God Naruto, you scared the sh*t out of all of us, thank God you're alright."

Lee was near to tears.  
"Naruto! Good friend, you're alive! Thank goodness your flame of youth wasn't extinguished from our eyes; it would've been a dreadful thing if such tragedy happened to us!"

Choji offered an apple.

"Hungry?"

Neji crossed his arms and sighed as he shook his head.

"Naruto, you had us all worried there. Hinata was exceptionally worried. I would slap you, but you're injured so … it'd be unfair."

Kiba by far seemed mostly upset, he ended up kicking the stool and shouting, "YOU LITTLE B*TCH! IT'S TYPICAL OF YOU TO JUST SCARE US LIKE THAT! I SWEAR, I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO DIE! IDIOT, THAT'S WHY YOU SHOULD'VE BROUGHT THE GUNS WITH US; DIDN'T I TELL YOU THEY'D HAVE GUNS? BUT NOOO~, YOU JUST WANTED TO 'TAKE IT EASY AND BE NICE' WITH THEM! F*CK THAT! F*CK IT!"

Shino grabbed Kiba's hood and yanked him back down from strangling Naruto, growling at him harshly.

"Shut up Kiba. He's alive isn't he? I saved his ass so tucker down and keep it clammed."

Kiba obediently kept quiet, though a bit pouty and upset. Naruto looked at Shino in confusion.

"Huh? You saved me?"

Shino nodded; pulling back a sleeve he revealed a bandage.

"Yeah, I gave you a blood transfer. I had this universal blood type that could be distributed to all blood types. They ran out of blood to give you and so I had to give up quite a lot to you. Mind you I was dizzy and woozy the entire day yesterday after all that blood I lost – be grateful Naruto."

Naruto nodded, a bit dizzy in the head himself.

"Uh, yeah, of course Shino, why wouldn't I be?"

Sasuke was the only one who hadn't said anything as he stayed by Naruto's window quietly. Naruto looked expectantly his way, but he kept his head away from Naruto and kept silent.

Suddenly the door was thrown back and the intruder ran inside and crushed Naruto in a back breaking hug.

"Guh – what the-"

"OH MY GOD, HE'S AWAKE! HE'S ALIVE!"

Sakura sobbed in Naruto's chest as she suddenly pulled back and slapped him, he stared at her in surprise.

"What the hell?! Why would you slap an injured person!?"

Sakura pointed at him accusingly before screaming, "WHAT DID I TELL YOU?! YOU ALMOST GOT YOURSELF KILLED YESTERDAY YOU SON OF A B*TCH! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW AWFUL I FELT LAST NIGHT?! I WAS THINKING, 'GOD, IF ONLY I HAD BEEN THERE TO SAVE HIS ASS', AND NOW YOU JUST WAKE UP AND ACT LIKE IT'S NOT A PROBLEM?! YOU'VE BEEN F*CKING SHOT IN THE CHEST, HOW IT THAT **NOT SERIOUS?!**"

Naruto gave her a look of confusion.

"Eh? But I didn't say anything-"

"FURTHERMORE, YOU DIDN'T EVEN TAKE ANYTHING WITH YOU TO DEFEND YOURSELF! THOUGH I AM STRICTLY AGAINST YOU AND YOUR GUNS, I WOULD'VE FELT BETTER IF YOU HAD TAKEN A FEW WITH YOU – FOR GOD'S SAKE, YOU ONLY HAVE THEM FOR THE SAKE OF DEFENSE, USE THEM FOR THAT PURPOSE YOU DUMBASS!"

Naruto held up his hands in surrender, trying to cool her off.

"Geez, Sakura! Please, tone it down; you're going to give me a head ache."

Sakura shivered in place, everyone realizing that she did so as she tried to control her breathing; when she did, she shook her head a few times before slapping herself twice. Then she sighed and drank some of Naruto's water that sat by his bedside. When she drained the glass she sighed and faced Naruto in her sanity, her expression grim despite her efforts to calm down.

"Naruto, I just wanted to tell you how stupid and irresponsible you are for getting shot and almost killed. I blame it on your stupidity and for being unprepared. However I am really happy that you're alive and that you didn't end up dying. All thanks to Shino of course."

Shino smiled behind his jacket's collar. Shikamaru nodded in agreement.

"Sakura's right. If it hadn't been for Shino, the doctors said you would've been long gone by now."

Naruto shivered slightly to think he could've died yesterday.

"Geez … was it that bad?"

This time Kiba slapped him.

"BAD? **BAD? **HELL YEAH IT WAS BAD! BLEEDING YOUR HEART OUT AND BARELY ALIVE, I WAS HYPERVENTILATING IN A CORNER THAT NIGHT!"

Naruto smacked Kiba on the head with his pillow.

"GOD DAMN IT KIBA, I GET IT, I GET IT! SO CAN YOU STOP TRYING TO SLAP ME?! FIRST SAKURA, AND NOW YOU! STOP HITTING AN INJURED PERSON FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE! AND FURTHERMORE; STOP YELLING AT ME!"

Sasuke then spoke from where he sat by the window, "I think I owe you an apology Naruto."

Everyone stared at Sasuke who had still not bothered to look at Naruto in the eye.

"You took a gunshot straight in the chest; no way could have you survived. And yet by sheer luck, you survived. I'm sorry to have put you in that situation where you could've almost died. For that I am sorry …"

Naruto and the others fell silent before he replied, "It's alright Sasuke. We're friends and friends help one another out; we'll find the Akatsuki and bring you brother to justice for what he did to your family. Just wait until I get dispatched, then we can go and find the Akatsuki-"

Sasuke interrupted Naruto, "No. It's not okay. Friends aren't supposed to get others killed. I appreciate your help Naruto; all of you. But it's only going to get worse and put all of you in bad situations and some of you might even die. No … I can't risk this anymore."

Sasuke turned to look at his friends, looking Naruto in the eye he bluntly added, "I'm leaving."

* * *

Hinata felt terrible for going out on her spa trip with Kurenai while Naruto was still unconscious and at the hospital. It wasn't logical for her to be lounging in the spa while Naruto was in great pain at the hospital … it just wasn't courteous towards Naruto.

Hinata miserably thought that to herself as she sank deeper into the water, letting the water slip over her mouth and nose where she exhaled in the water to bring bubbles to the surface. Kurenai was sighing in contentment beside her as she exclaimed, "Ah, this is great, right Hinata? Relaxing, soothing … the water feels sooo good …"

She sighed before falling silent, the two sitting in the hot water in silence.

Kurenai finally asked after an uncomfortable moment, "So, you still pouty that I dragged you out of the hospital to come here?"

Hinata brought her face out of the water and sighed, breathing in air as she mumbled back, "Maybe …"

Kurenai looked at Hinata a bit pouty herself.

"Well mind you Hinata, I did it for your own good. Because one, you were all depressed and stressed if Little Fox was alright and you wouldn't even bother eating dinner that night. Two, yesterday was cancelled and we had to push back the trip a day later and now the agents are a bit pissed at us since they didn't expect this emergency, and if we didn't come today, they'd cancel the rest of our trip! Besides, the spa will do you some good. It helps relax the mind and soothe one's soul. So enjoy it and don't worry about Little Fox – I heard from Shikamaru that he's tougher than nails and has a tendency to survive anything thrown at him, have a little faith in the little sucker and don't worry!"

Hinata sighed, finding comfort in Kurenai's words and was from there, able to forgive Kurenai for dragging her here.

"Okay … I forgive you Kurenai. I-I suppose I needed this …"

Kurenai nodded, then the two looked up when suddenly their attendant poked her head in.

"Excuse me, but are you two ready for your exclusive massage?"

Kurenai beamed.

"Yes, yes! Of course!"

The woman smiled before telling them, "Very well. Come out when you can and meet us at the Massage Hall down the hall. We'll have two tables waiting for you."  
Kurenai thanked the woman before rising from the water.

"Well, let's go Hinata, I've had my fill of this amazing water, I might come back later today just for the heck of it."

Hinata followed Kurenai out of the water and they both wrapped a towel around their body before walking out and down the hall towards the massage hall. There they met two teams of workers as they greeted Hinata and Kurenai warmly.

"Welcome! Please keep your towels on and lay face down on the tables. What kind of massages would you like?"

Kurenai and Hinata did as they told before telling the ladies, "I'll have a deep tissue massage. Give the birthday girl here a Swedish massage; she's been having some stress lately because a friend of hers is in the hospital right now."

The ladies looked sympathetically to Hinata and they hurried to take their places, around Kurenai and Hinata and began massaging the two as ordered.

"Can we have a Hot Stone therapy after this? I think it'll be good for us …"  
"Of course."

"Thank you."

Kurenai sighed in clear contentment as they worked on loosening her muscles, their hands working out the knots in her muscle that had been bothering her since yesterday night. Hinata was in paradise; their hands worked like magic to ease the tension in her muscles and somehow relaxing and stress relieving it all was. Kurenai smile at Hinata before asking, "How is it?"  
Hinata sighed before replying back, "Amazing …"  
The ladies smiled to one another as they continued working, a light laugh coming from Kurenai as she lazily replied, "Isn't it? It feels absolutely fantastic … does wonders to your body. I could practically sleep right now."

Hinata smiled back.

"True."

The ladies then began to make small talk with their two guests.

"So, Miss. Hinata? How old are you now?"

"Twenty-one."  
"My! Twenty-one! I remember being that young, such a shame that now I'm an old woman, considering that I'm thirty nine. Guess I'm on my way to being a grandma when I hit forty!"

Hinata eyed the woman before replying in surprise, "B-but, you have such a young face! You don't look like a day over t-thirty!"

She laughed, smiling to her fellow workers before answering, "Yes, most say I still have my youthful appearance. I'm lucky to be able to keep the wrinkles out. But it won't be before long that I get them, age is wicked that way."

The younger woman beside her spoke to Hinata, "But it is a surprise that you're twenty-one now. You look so young, I mistakened you to be in your late teens!"

Hinata blushed at the comment.

"O-oh, thank you?"  
They all laughed, smiling at Hinata's perplexity.

Another lady asked, one that seemed younger than all of them and probably new to the job since she asked, "Hope you don't mind me asking, but this friend of yours in the hospital, is that person alright?"

The woman who first spoke to Hinata scolded her sharply, scolding her saying, "Yumi! Now it isn't respectful to ask her that. She probably wouldn't want to tell you-"  
"No, no, it's fine. I can tell her."

The lady glared at the young woman who shrugged back at her, Hinata closing her eyes as she answered, "He's fine now. He got shot in the chest during a fight and he was close to dying, but luckily his friend had the right blood type to donate to him and he was able to survive after that. He's lucky I'm pretty sure. But he's still unconscious as far as I know at the hospital."

The ladies gasped.

"Shot in the chest? Goodness, what got him in that mess?"  
"He's trying to find a few bad men and deal with them, lately he's been engaging himself in such activities with his fellow friends."

"Ah, so is he in the police? Or perhaps he's a justice fighter of some sorts?"  
Hinata smiled to herself.

"S-Something like that."

* * *

Somewhere outside the city, a group of evil, dark, and malicious men stopped at the train station. The leader crossed his arms eyeing his fellow men.

"Alright now, you know what to do."

The Akatsuki members nodded, breaking off into their classic groups of twos, they moved away and left to board the train. The leader stayed behind; he wouldn't go himself unless this 'Demon Fox' and his friends proved to be difficult to defeat for his men. But he had full confidence that they weren't; that his men would eventually wipe them out utterly.

He especially had high hopes set in Itachi. His younger brother was with them and considering that Itachi had been waiting for so long to kill his brother, he was more than happy to let Itachi go as well. He watched his men board by the windows of the train, giving their leader mock salutes from where they sat as the train began to pull away. Itachi held his leader's gaze for a while before looking to one side. When the train finally disappeared from sight, the leader turned to leave, thinking to himself that maybe … he should've gone with them.

* * *

Shikamaru and the others were leaving the hospital, all of them a bit worried of the exchange prior to their leaving between Naruto and Sasuke:

* * *

"What? You're leaving?"  
Sasuke nodded and the boys looked at one another; Naruto kept his unwavering gaze on Sasuke.

"And why would you do that?"  
"Well for one, you wouldn't have to bother with my plans on revenge. You won't have to get in this kind of a situation again, and it gives me more flexibility and I can work quicker with other people to find the Akatsuki and my brother; no offense."

Naruto glared at Sasuke with such anger that even Sasuke blinked in surprise.

"How is that not offensive?!"  
Naruto had attempted to get out of bed but failed as he collapsed back on the bed, resolving to simply glare angrily at Sasuke from where he was.

"How can you just declare out of the blue, 'oh by the way guys, I know you worked your asses off to find my brother so I can beat the sh*t out of him, but you guys are too slow and it annoys me. So I'm going to make my own group and frolic around and find the Akatsuki on my own so I can kill my brother!' You're being awfully grateful towards us!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the venom in Naruto's voice as he replied curtly, "Well I do appreciate your efforts. But unless you want to get yourself almost killed again, I think it'd just be best if I did this on my own. You're in no condition to help anyways, and with you out of the picture, there isn't much we can do while we sit and wait for you to heal. By that point, my brother could have already moved out of the area by now. I can't risk that. So I'll be leaving you guys to deal with him on my own. It'll be much quicker that way and I'll come back after I'm done. It's not going to be like last time with Orochimaru okay?"

Everyone winced at the mention of that horrible man's name. It had been a terrible time when Naruto and his gang suffered the loss of Sasuke's absence when he went wild and crazy to go after his brother after he had learned his family was slaughtered by him and yearning to get to chasing him, he had followed Orochimaru – a dangerous man who had wanted nothing but to use Sasuke's body to replace a few parts of his own; like his eyes for example. Remembering that horrid man, Naruto only hardened his resolve.

"Sasuke, I know you won't end up like that again. You've been through a lot during that time and I'm sure you learned something from that. But you don't need to do this alone. Even if I'm injured, you still have the rest of the gang here; Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, Lee, Choji, and Shino; they're all here for you to help out Sasuke. Don't go telling me that you're going to neglect their help and go on and find your own little helpers of your own. You'd be a sorry excuse to us as a friend if you were to neglect our support."

Sasuke looked at the group of boys who looked back at Sasuke, the same look on all their faces with the same resolve; their heart was one with Naruto.

"Hey! Don't forget about me!"  
"Yes, yes, Sakura too."  
Naruto glanced at the pink haired girl before turning back to look at Sasuke; the two holding each other's gazes.

Sasuke tsked then, turned away and crossed his arms before looking back out the window.

"Tsk! Fine, I'll go with what you say Naruto. But if I don't find Akatsuki sometime this month, I'll seriously take my leave."

Naruto had only inclined his head slightly, keeping his eyes on Sasuke's back as he replied lowly, "Oh don't worry, we'll find them for you before then, I promise you that you'll be satisfied."

* * *

Shikamaru sighed as he reflected that tense argument between Sasuke and Naruto before mumbling to his friends, "Geez, that was surprising to hear all of that come out of Naruto. To think he had some brains in that head of his."

Choji nodded, for once not eating something as he walked beside Shikamaru.

"I'm not really surprised. Naruto has always been a very influential person and for that, he's very likable and it's no wonder that he's our leader. Though Shikamaru would've made a nice leader too."  
Shikamaru snorted.

"Yeah, I wouldn't have wanted to take the job – too bothersome."

Kiba kicked a rock as they turned a corner down the road.

"Still, do you think that Sasuke really meant what he said? I mean, you guys know how hard it was to get him back, if he leaves again … how do you think Naruto would take it?"

Shino gloomily shook his head.

"He'd be in pain again. Sasuke is like a brother to him, he wouldn't be able to take it too lightly if Sasuke were to leave him for the second time like he did with Orochimaru."

Neji looked around at the expressions on everybody's faces before he quickly told them, "But hey, Naruto has been pretty straightforward with Sasuke and has his points taken across with him. I'm sure the two of them have talked about this before and that's why Sasuke was able to take it easily. I doubt Sasuke is going to walk out on us any time soon. Not while Naruto is still leader and continues to be his closest friend. As much as Sasuke never admits it, he needs Naruto for support."

Everyone nodded, agreeing with Neji. Lee exclaimed loudly as he happily supported this, "Yes! Sasuke would not abandon his friends for the second time! That would just be downright lousy of him if he ever does!"

Kiba growled before punching a fist into his other hand's open palm, "Yeah, because I'll punch his face if he ever does something as sh*tty as that to us again. I'll even have Akamaru piss on him."

Choji looked at Kiba as he asked, "Speaking of which, where is Akamaru?"

Kiba sighed, hanging his head sadly before mumbling, "He's sick."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows at Kiba

"Your dog is sick? What happened?"  
"Akamaru didn't do anything. There was just this sickness going around and he unluckily caught it. The vet says he'll be fine, but I've never seen Akamaru in so much discomfort in my life! He's always whining and hiding in bed. He rarely eats and some days I find myself force feeding him; it's killing me seeing him so … so … different."

Kiba gloomily stuffed his hands in his pocket before Lee patted him roughly on the back.

"Good friend, your dog has a strong spirit; such a dog won't die easily! Neither will he let this measly sickness over take him! Your dog will pull through soon enough and he'll be back on his four paws soon enough!"

Neji added, "Yeah, don't get all worried over nothing. Akamaru is tougher than most dogs; he'll be back before you know it."

Kiba nodded gloomily, "Yeah … I know. I know …"

Choji offered him a snickers bar, but Kiba miserably declined. Suddenly Neji asked, "Oh, right, do any of you guys have your phone on you? I forgot to bring mine back at our place."

Shikamaru yanked his out and tossed it to Neji.

"Yeah, here. What do you need it for?"  
Neji unlocked his phone before tapping in a number, "I need to tell Hinata that Naruto is alright. You saw how she was last time; like a walking zombie."

Suddenly Kiba perked up.

"Hey, you guys don't think she liked Naruto?"

Everyone stared at Kiba before answering at once.

Shikamaru shook his head.

"Impossible; who'd love that dope?"

Choji shrugged.

"I don't see why not; she does seem a bit off every time she's with him."

Lee crossed his arms before nodding.

"Yes, yes, I too have noticed the strange aura she gives off when she is in his presence. I sense something … romantic between them."

Shino simply stated, "I think she does. Have you guys ever seen a girl blush so much around him? The only time I ever saw another girl blush around Naruto was when he made a sexual joke."

Shikamaru frowned.

"I don't remember that. If he did make such a joke; that was probably when he was drunk. By the way, was he with Sakura at the time?"

"Yes."  
"Figures."

Kiba waved at them to bring back their attention on him.

"Guys, guys! You're forgetting the point here; I think Hinata is in love with Naruto!"

Neji snorted while holding the phone to his ear.

"I find that hard to believe. Hinata is shy and honestly pure minded; how can she stand Naruto when he gets perverted when drunk, stupid when angry, and snappy when hungry?"

Everyone nodded, honestly that was true; Naruto was a guy with such standards that it was difficult to find anyone who could put up with him.

Kiba shrugged.

"Who knows? We don't know what kind of a girl Hinata is. Maybe she likes guys like Naruto."  
"No, more like she's never seen a guy like Naruto and, like most people, is simply curious to know what he really is like."  
"You don't know that Shikamaru!"

"I know that for a fact."

"What do you know about girls?"  
"Everything."  
Kiba had nothing to throw back, after all, Shikamaru was the only guy in the group who was actually dating – his experience with the Sand girl was nothing to deny.

Neji started to speak, "Why are you so curious about my cousin's feelings about Naruto? It'd be too early for her to get so interested and not to mention that – hello? Hello, is Hinata there? Yes this is Neji."

Neji turned away while speaking to the phone, the group of boys continuing their conversation without him.

Choji brought up the question, "You guys don't think Naruto is interested in anyone right?"  
Shikamaru almost laughed at that.

"Naruto? Please, I doubt that. He's more interested in ramen than girls."

Lee interjected.

"Oh ho! I beg to differ. I vividly remember the time he let his ramen burn when he ran to pick up a phone call from Sakura, even if she was calling for Sasuke."

Shino added, "Yes, it's true that Naruto will turn his focus on a girl if he finds himself loving them; Sakura is a good example of that. However ever since she turned him down and he accepted that, he hasn't shown any interest in other girls."

Kiba pouted.

"He should though. His love life is far more interesting than Shikamaru's."

Shikamaru sarcastically replied, "Oh geez, I'm sorry that my life is boring and dreary like myself."

They stopped at an intersection, Shikamaru punching the button as they waited for the signal to adjust to let them pass.

"Well it's true! All you ever do with Temari is making out in a corner or something when you think no one is watching!"

"That's because no one IS – you're the only creep here that likes to stalk us and jump in and scare the crap out of us!"

"That's not stalking! That's simply me trying to figure out what you two need to jazz things up!"

The signal blinked on and they moved as one across the road.

"You don't need to 'jazz things up' for us. It's stupid whenever you try. Temari and I are taking it slow, you have no part in this."  
"Hey! I'm just trying to give you two some romantic moments!"  
"Kiba, shut up."

"Oh keep it stuffed Shino!"

"Guys, stop yelling! I can't hear Hinata!"  
"You guys should just stop, Neji is trying to talk on the phone."  
"Listen to Choji my friends! I hear sense in his words!"

"Choji! Lee! Shino! Keep out of this!"

"Just drop it Kiba, you're annoying enough- SH*T!"

Suddenly a car bucked forward, almost slamming into Shikamaru as they passed.

Kiba kicked the car in fury.

"WHAT THE F*CK MAN?! TRYING TO KILL MY FRIEND HERE?!"

Shikamaru took a few steps away before the group looked up at the driver.

The man held up a hand from his wheel in acknowledgment, his purple eyes gleaming wickedly at them as he grinned apologetically.

"Sorry! My bad."

Shikamaru eyed the man suspiciously before scurrying with the others on the sidewalk just in time before the stop lights flickered back to green. They watched the car drive away past them with the man laughing his head off, Shikamaru unnerved by what had just happened.

"God … those kind of guys are such jerks."

Kiba growled before punching his hand angrily, "I should've dragged him out and beat the sh*t out of him! No one f*cks around with my friends!"

Shino glanced at Shikamaru with a level of concern.

"Do you know that man?"  
"Huh? No, never seen him in my life."

"Hmm … we better keep our eyes open for him. He might be someone suspicious."

Choji placed a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder concerned, "Are you alright? I thought he was going to run you down back there!"  
"I'm fine guys. Really, he must've just accidently pressed the pedal or something …"

Neji, who had long hung up before since they crossed the road, solemnly shook his head with his arms crossed.

"No, I doubt it was something accidental. Did you see the look in his eyes? The way he laughed when he drove off? I'm betting to say it's intentional and he meant to do it. Guys … this is serious."

They stopped walking, exchanging looks as Neji eyed them all.

"Yeah, you're right. Should we tell Naruto?"  
Shikamaru quickly shook his head at Choji.

"No, don't. He's gone through enough today. It'd be best if we didn't tell him until it gets into something serious. Keep quiet about it guys, you never know if this eventually turns out to be nothing."

The boys nodded in agreement, though worry was on everyone's face. That man hadn't meant to stop. The way he had looked at everyone and his careless and uncaring reply was enough to set everyone on edge; men like him they had to be aware of.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura had left the others since Sasuke was a bit sour towards all of them; Naruto's words irritably had stuck to him and made him to reconsider once again. He hated it whenever Naruto made him do this.

Sasuke sighed before shaking his head to himself, deciding to just drop it since holding a grudge against Naruto was tiring enough; it never unnerved him and it was pointless to anyway.

"Sasuke? Are you alright? You seem stressed-"  
"I'm fine."

Sakura bit her lip before falling silent. She was elated when Sasuke offered to walk her back to her pharmacy, but … he was too agitated and snappy to get into a nice conversation with her. Sasuke noticed her put down expression before adding a bit gently for the sake of being kind, "But uh, thank you."

Sakura brightened; mere words from Sasuke enough to make her day brighter; his presence around her was enough to lighten her mood. Sakura tried again, "So uh, Saskue – how have you been since I last … talked with you?"  
Sasuke shrugged.

"Good I guess. Nothing has killed me so far and the others are doing just fine with or without me."  
"Oh. That's good I suppose."  
"Hmm …"

Sakura cursed mentally. Sasuke had this uncanny ability to end a conversation even before it started and it irritated Sakura to think that it was that easy for him.

"Sasuke, can I ask you something?"  
"No."

"Are you really going to leave Naruto and the others … and me, again?"

Sasuke stopped walking to look at her after she added that tid bit 'and me' at the end.

"Why should you care?"  
"Because, like I told you last time Sasuke, I love you."  
"That isn't of my concern. It's not like I feel anything in return to your feelings."  
"Then why won't you tell me that? Why can't you just tell me, that you don't love me?"  
Sakura's gaze hardened as she held Sasuke's irritably, her arms crossed in front of her chest in a demanding way.

"Tell me."  
"…."

"Sasuke, answer me."

"…."

"Sasuke!"

He sighed, shaking his head he dismissively waved it aside before resuming walking.

"I have nothing to say."

Sakura angrily screamed inside herself; Sasuke was always like this. He never gave her a straight answer and stubbornly refused to say anything to her. Sakura had always assumed that he just needed more time to consider her feelings before saying anything that he'd regret; but waiting for the past three years for an answer since then, it was starting to get to Sakura that maybe he was a bit of a jerk.

They kept silent on the way back to the pharmacy, she felt a bit relieved once she stopped in front of her door, her hand rummaging through her coat's pocket for her keys.

"Thanks for walking me here. You can leave now."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at her venomous reply, but before he could even say anything, she had opened the door and hurried inside, locking it behind her before disappearing past the dark shelves of her pharmacy. Sasuke sighed, wondering if he should've said something. To be honest, he had inconclusive feelings about Sakura. Some days he felt like he did like her, and other times it was strong distaste. He never had an answer to give her so he had always sought an excuse to avoid her and kept his distance. Of course Naruto had finally gotten on to him about confronting her, but he refused to do anything according to Naruto's will. Sasuke would answer her on his own time. Eventually, he'd have something to say to her.

He turned to leave, walking down the road as Sakura watched him leave watching through the covers of the shadows before glumly entering her office sadly to herself. She resolved that tonight would be a good night to turn in early for bed.

* * *

Hinata felt relieved now to know that Naruto was alright. She recalled the phone call some time earlier:

One of the spa members pulled out Hinata's phone in surprise.

"Miss? Someone is calling you."

Hinata thanked her, holding out her hand for her phone as she handed it to her, resuming massaging her shoulders as she answered the call.

"H-Hello?"

"_Hello? Hello is Hinata there?"_

"Neji?"  
"_Yes, this is Neji. Listen, I just wanted to call you to tell you that Naruto is alright. He woke up recently and he seems perfectly fine."_

"R-really?!"

She looked over at Kurenai who smiled at her silently.

"T-That's great! I-I'm so relieved …"

"_How are you doing Hinata? Are you enjoying your time with Kurenai?"_

"Y-yes. The spa is nice."

"_That's good."_

She heard loud shouting in the background and she heard Neji pull away from the phone shouting, "_Guys! Stop yelling, I can't hear Hinata_!"

There was more yelling and Neji got back on the phone.

"_Look, I better go now. The boys are being really – HOLY SH*T!"_

Hinata pinked at Neji's cursing.

"N-Neji!? W-What's going o-on-"

"_I gotta go! Someone almost drove into us; I'll call you next time!"_

"N-Neji? Neji!"

She looked dumbfounded at her phone as it bleakly beeped as Neji hanged up.

"H-he hung up on me."

"Eh? Your cousin? Eesh, he's so rude."

Kurenai growled as Hinata handed her phone back to one of the spa members.

"N-no, I don't t-think he was being r-rude. S-Something h-happened and I think he h-had to go and deal with it. Sounds like something b-bad …"

"Oh. Well I hope your cousin and his friends turn out to be alright."  
"Y-yes …"

Hinata brought herself back to reality as Kurenai entered the hotel room.

"Phew! What a relief it is to be back here. I'm tuckered out."

Kurenai flopped backwards on her bed before sighing. Then she shifted around until she faced Hinata smiling.

"So, tell me, how did you enjoy this trip?"

"G-Good I suppose … except for the part N-Naruto got hurt …"

"Excluding that of course. That was an emergency. Something unexpected. But you shouldn't worry now about him; didn't your cousin tell you that he was alright now?"  
"Yes."

"Then don't worry about Little Fox!"  
"I-I can't help but to be worried!"  
Kurenai threw a pillow at her head.

"Oh shush! It's pointless to be worried. If it makes you feel better, on the way back home tomorrow, we'll stop by at the hospital so you can meet Naruto. Okay?"  
"Y-yes please! I'd like that very much."

"Good. Now rest up. There's no point for you to be worrying about him so late at night. You'll bring wrinkles to that lovely face of yours worrying about him. Go to bed."  
"Y-yes Kurenai."  
"Good night Hinata."  
"G-Good night."

Kurenai turned off the lamps as Hinata crawled into her own bed, snuggling into the plush mattress. Hinata listened as Kurenai sighed and began to slowly drift into a deep sleep, her soft snores the only sound in the room. Hinata stard up at the ceiling while reflecting her day to herself. It was much better than yesterday; she had practically starved herself worrying about Naruto and now that he was alright, she had to admit, she felt much better. But why had it bothered her so much? It was understandable for her to be concerned for his welfare; someone she knew was shot in the chest - how could one not be sympathetic towards him? But she felt overly concerned and had cried off and on yesterday; her feelings for Naruto were getting stranger and stranger. Could it be? Hinata turned over in her bed, biting at her thumb wondering, was she developing feelings for him?

* * *

The boys had turned in for the night, Shikamaru staying up with his girlfriend in one room as she asked about his day.

"So, the idiot Naruto got himself shot today?"  
"Two days ago. He had his surgery yesterday and we all thought he wasn't going to make it, but after Shino gave him a blood transfer, he's fine now."  
"Eesh, can an idiot get any luckier? Seriously, he's one heck of a guy, staying alive this far."

Shikamaru smirked, taking off his shirt to change into another. Temari's eyes staying on his bare chest as he pulled the shirt over his head.

"Well we didn't make him our leader for nothing. Even if he is a dope and sometimes really stupid, we wouldn't have had anyone else for leader."

"Well there are three others besides him capable of being leader."  
"And who might they be?"  
Temari grinned as he sat next to her on the bedside.

"Well there's you. Smart, reliable; even your friend Choji thinks you'd make a great leader."  
Shikamaru grinned, mindlessly playing with her hair as she continued.

"Mmhmm, go on."

"And there's that Uchiha brat. Even if he is a bit of a stuck up jerk he would make a decent leader. That is if he'd shut up about his revenge on his brother. But he seems pretty smart and he can sure keep the group together."

"I seriously doubt about that, but okay."

"And of course that Hyuuga guy. Neji was it? He seems like a plausible leader."  
"That I can go with."  
Temari smiled as Shikamaru leaned in to kiss her.

"But I'd rather have Naruto as our leader as long as he lives."

"Hmm, I think that's reasonable. He seems to be the only one really suited for the job."  
"Yup."

Temari wrapped a hand up around Shikamaru's neck to pull him down to meet his lips when Kiba slammed into the room, causing the two to jump up and curse.

"KIBA, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE-"

"Okay, for once, I'm not here to ruin your little make out session, alright? I'm here for a VERY good reason."  
Temari eyed him with annoyance as Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head he snapped, "Fine, fine, what is it?"  
Kiba jabbed a thumb behind him.

"You better come to the living room; we got a message from a stranger."

When Shikamaru and Temari entered the room, led by Kiba, the group was already assembled as they eyed the note on the table.

Shikamaru eyed it suspiciously.

"Why is there an origami crane on our table?"

Choji shivered.

"That's no origami. It's a freaking letter of death – it came in attached to a needle and it almost punctured my ear as it stuck to the wall behind me. I was scared sh*t!"

Shikamaru patted Choji sympathetically on the shoulder as he sat with the others, reaching out for the crane he looked around at the faces of his friends.  
"Should I open it?"

"Shikamaru …"

His girlfriend gripped his shoulder warningly, the expression on her face saying it all. Shino offered to open it.

"I'll do it."  
"No, I will."  
No one objected as Neji reached over to take the origami crane in his hands, he focused on unfolding the delicate crane quickly, the crinkle of paper the only sound in the entire room. When he smoothed it out he stared stunned at the message. The others pressed him for answers.

Choji leaned forward anxiously stuffing his face with chips.

"Well? What does it say Neji?"

Kiba anxiously shifted in his seat.

"Hurry up Neji! Tell us what it says!"

Lee jumped up and down in his seat.

"What does it say?"

Shino kept silent as Shikamaru eyed the strange expression on Neji's face.

"Well? Neji, what's wrong-"

"Sh*t …"

They all blinked in surprise as Neji held up the letter with a horrified expression on his face.

"They're after us."

The letter read in bold red letters, "_WE KNOW WHERE YOU HIDE. WE WILL KILL YOU ALL. – AKATSUKI."_

Shikamaru eyed the letter before looking around at the tense expressions on everyone's faces. He slowly asked, "So ... you don't think that, that guy from before …"  
Kiba nodded.

"…is one of them."

Choji looked at everyone worryingly, "No kidding … then that means that, they already know our faces."

Lee swallowed.

"Yes … they're fully prepared to take us down."

Shino then silently looked up at everyone asking, "The question is … who will they start with?"  
Silence. They all thought silently until they all snapped up in horror; Shikamaru cursing.

"Sh*t! Naruto!"

Kiba jumped up from his seat grabbing his coat off a chair cursing, "F*ck! We left him alone!"

Shino and Lee ran after Kiba, Choji grabbing the keys and throwing them to Shikamaru. Temari helped Shikamaru into his jacket and gave him a quick kiss.

"God, stay safe."

"Hell yeah, you stay safe too. Lock the doors, don't let anyone in. We have our own keys to get in, so don't worry about us."

Temari nodded as Shikamaru rushed out the door with the others, Neji nodding to Temari before closing the door and jumping into the car after Shikamaru, the car roaring to life as they pulled out of the garage and tore down the road. Hopefully they'd make it in time.

* * *

Naruto couldn't sleep that night. Sort of a thing he developed; he couldn't sleep unless there was someone he knew right next to him. Anyone at all. It made him feel safe. But now that he was alone in the cold dark room, he felt consciously aware that he was alone, injured, and extremely … vulnerable. Now he wished he hadn't told his friends to leave him. But he did and it'd be awkward if he called them to come back, so he just kept to himself and turned to one side on his bed, watching the shadows made by the trees outside his window bend by the wind on the tiled floor.

He slowly closed his eyes while listening to the leaves outside his window rustle in the night wind, hearing a crunch as a branch – wait. Huh?

Flashing his eyes open Naruto dove out of bed, hearing a solid thunk as a knife embedded itself on the wooden edge of the bed; inches behind his pillow where he was resting.

_Crap! Someone is out there!_

Naruto tried to get to his feet but hissed in pain as his chest injury forced him back to the ground, his eyes flickering around the room anxiously as he watched the shadows move. There was a low laugh behind him and he whirled around to see dark, crimson eyes. The laugh was heard once again as the stranger spoke, "Well, you certainly are skilled. But if it weren't for that irritable branch by my shoe, you would've been dead with a knife in your neck."

Naruto felt sweat drip from his face just by staring back at the murderer, the dark venomous glare in his eyes glaring into him as if to say, '_I will kill you.' _Which is probably what he had in mind.

"F*ck … what do you want with me?"

"I believe I should be asking you that. I've heard that you and your friends are looking for my group … or more specifically, me."

The stranger gave him time to connect the dots before pulling out a knife. Naruto gasped.

"Sh*t! You're-"

"Itachi. Yes, Sasuke's loving older brother. I'm surprised he isn't here with you. Your friends ditch you here for the night?"

Naruto rolled to one side as Itachi made a move to cut his throat, the knife embedding itself on the tile floor before Itachi looked up at Naruto, yanking the blade out violently before walking towards him. Naruto looked around for something – anything – to use as a weapon. But he found nothing and his injury wasn't going to make things easier for himself.

"My friends left because I told them to. I didn't want them to worry about me."

"They should. After what they know so far, I bet you right now they're getting here as fast as they can to save your ass."

"You can't kill me, I don't die easily."

"Well then tonight you'll be choking on your own words."

Itachi lunged again and Naruto dove to one side, but suddenly Itachi shot out a hand and grabbed Naruto's upper arm and threw him to one side of the room, causing Naruto to tumble into the wall and slam against the floor painfully, he gasped at the pain as he tried to blink away the spots in his vision. Itachi used the opportunity to grab Naruto by his throat and pin him up against the wall, his fingers mercilessly cutting off his air, Naruto gasping as he grabbed at Itachi's arm futilely. Itachi's eyes seemed to laugh at him.

"Well this is a disappointment. After all the fuss I heard about how strong this 'Demon Fox' was, I was looking forward to a little fight … but you're being awfully weak right now."

Itachi held up a knife to Naruto's face, the tip cutting into his cheek as he venomously added, "After I kill you, the rest of your gang will die. You shouldn't have messed with us in the beginning-"

Naruto cut him off as he kicked him in the stomach, forcing him to grunt with pain as he backed away, his grip relinquished from Naruto's neck as he coughed for air, his glare held on the Akatsuki member viciously.

"F*ck … I'm not letting you kill me or my friends. Sasuke for one has wanted to kill you for what you did to his family."

Itachi blinked in surprise before laughing insanely.

"That?! He's after me because I killed our family?! That foolish brother of mine, he truly does have a weak soul to begin with. But don't worry,"  
Itachi twirled the knife in his fingers as he grinned at Naruto evilly.

"I'll soon end his misery soon enough."  
Itachi threw the knife at Naruto's head who in turn ducked and threw a stool at him. He dodged and pulled out another knife while keeping his eyes on Naruto who had got to one knee grabbing the knife that embedded itself in the wall behind him. Naruto growled angrily at him before painfully getting to his feet.

"You monster, I'll kill you for saying that."  
Itachi grinned, liking the look in his eyes as he beckoned with one hand.

"Let's see that happen then."

* * *

"F*ck! F*ck! Where are you turning, go left, left!"  
"What?! I thought it was to the right-"

"IDIOT! THE HOSPITAL IS DOWN THAT ROAD, AND YOU F*CKING TURNED RIGHT – GET THE HELL OUT OF THE DRIVER'S SEAT, I'M DRIVING!"

"KIBA, GET YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM THE WHEEL, I CAN'T SEE WHILE YOU'RE TRYING TO SQUEEZE INTO MY SEAT AND I CAN'T F*CKING DRIVE WITH YOU – **KIBA!**"

Shino grabbed Kiba and yanked him back in his seat, hissing at him irritably.

"Both of you calm down! Especially you Kiba. Shikamaru, just keep on this road and get off on the next exit; I know a short cut from here."

Shikamaru grunted in thanks as he punched the gas; shooting down the road he exited on the next exit as Shino instructed and Neji warningly gripped Shikamaru's shoulder, "Hey hey … cool it a little. You're going to get the cops after us-"  
"F*ck the cops Neji! Naruto is in danger and you want to slow down? You little-"

Choji shoved a handful of chips in Kiba's mouth, glaring at him to shut up. Lee gripped the back of Shikamaru's seat while exclaiming, "Do you think we'll make it in time?"  
Neji sat back in his seat with a queasy stomach, mumbling more to himself than Lee as he replied, "At this speed? Hell I can't see why we wouldn't. "

Suddenly the car jerked to the right, the boys shouting in surprise.

Shikamaru wildly looked out the window for a split second, "What the hell was that?!"

Kiba scrambled to the window hissing at Shikamaru, "F*ck it, you and your lousy driving! You probably hit another car!"

Shikamaru glared at Kiba in the rearview mirror.

"Well at least I'm a hell lot better than you at driving! And I f*cking swear, I did NOT hit anybody! Someone hit into us!"

Choji paled while pointing out the window.

"Oh God … guys, it's them again."

Everyone looked outside to see a laughing man with silver hair and purple eyes, his friend in the other seat with a mask over his face as he glared at Shikamaru and the others as the driver laughed hysterically over the sound of their cars, "HEY YOU F*CKERS! WE MEET AGAIN!"

Shikamaru cursed under his breath as he yanked the car to another lane, but the creepy guy only copied his actions, sticking close to him as he laughed insanely at them.

"I GOT SOME ORDERS FROM THE BIG BOSS HIMSELF! HE WANTS US TO KILL YOU GUYS! THIS'LL BE FUN, FUN, FUN!"

"Shut up and kill them already."

"SHUT UP KAKUZU, I'LL KILL'EM WHEN I WANT TO!"

"SHIKAMARU, JUST FOCUS ON THE ROAD, I'LL DEAL WITH THEM!"

Kiba climbed to the top of the car and slid the sun roof away and climbing to the roof of the car, followed by Neji and Lee as Shikamaru focused back on the road cursing.

"Damn! What is wrong with these people!?"  
Kiba and the others took some time to balance themselves on the car, the speed they were traveling at threatening to pull them down and smash them to the road. Kiba was the first to jump.

He landed on the car and took his time to claw his way to the front, smashing his foot through the front windshield, cracking through the thick glass at his powerful kick. The two men cursed as they covered their faces from the showering glass and Kakuzu reached out and grabbed Kiba's foot. Kiba cursed and felt Kakuzu yank him inside, Neji and Lee exclaiming in surprise as he disappeared from view.

"Kiba!"

Kiba slammed into the two inside the car and felt the man, Kakuzu, grab him by his jacket and slam him into the dashboard, his hand finding his neck and slowly choking him. Kiba clawed at his arm as he coughed, cursing, "F*ck! F*ck!"

The driver laughed insanely as he alternately looked between the road and his friend.

"WOOHOO! THAT'S RIGHT KAKUZU! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!"

"Shut up and focus on the road Hidan!"

Suddenly their car was rammed into, the driver cursing as he glared at the other car next to them; Shikamaru eyed them with determination in his eyes as he had rammed into them, hopefully it was enough for Kiba to get out of their grip. True enough, Kakuzu's grip relinquished on Kiba and he punched him in the face. Kiba kicked Hidan in the face and Kakuzu growled as he grabbed Kiba and smashed his head against his window, the glass crashing on impact and cutting into Kiba's face as he cried out in pain.

Neji then jumped over and worked his way to the back, deciding it would be better to go behind them and grab Hidan from behind. He broke through the back window and slid in from there, Hidan exclaiming in surprise, "What the hell was that?! Kakuzu! Kill the f*cker already and deal with whoever is in the back!"

Neji reached up and wrapped an arm around the Hidan's neck, pulling back he choked him against the seat as the driver struggled to drive and shake him off.

"F*ck, f*ck – KAKUZU!"

Suddenly, Kakuzu grabbed Kiba and shoved him out the front of the car, Kiba shouting in surprise as he disappeared from view. Neji barely had time to shout his name when Kakuzu slammed his elbow into his face. Neji collapsed in the back seats with blood spilling from his broken nose and before Kakuzu could do any more damage, Lee bursted through the front kicking him in the face with both feet shouting, "FEEL THE FURY OF MY WRATH!"

Hidan angrily reached over and grabbed Lee by the leg and yanked him to one side, forcing Lee to yelp as he was thrown back outside of the car. Neji struggled to regain his senses when Kakuzu turned in his seat holding a gun to his head.

"Enough of this fooling around, it's time I wrapped up the fun."  
Neji stared in horror at the gun before it went off.

* * *

**I don't know if you guys like cliffhangers, I don't even know if this is a good one, but I cut it off here for now and I'm so sorry if you guys wanted to read more! XD I personally think it's gotten intense, but then again, I'm picturing it out in my mind and writing it out, but I don't know if I can even portray things right when I write. It's so vivid in my mind but sometimes comes out poorly expressed in my writing. Sorry if that's so with this chapter.**

**I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless, keep writing reviews, ask questions if there are, and I'm looking forward to posting chapter five soon! Or I might be a bit late to write chapter five, since I have school coming back after sunday and all so sorry in advance if I don't post faster than I used to. Anyway, I love you all for being great supporters, and I'll see you soon in chapter five~! Stay tuned to find out what happens to Naruto with his deadly confrontation with Itachi, and to discover the fates of Neji and the others! And the question everyone might be asking; where is Sasuke?! Dun-dun-dun~! (Evil music and laughter - 'MWAHAHAHAHA!') Sorry. That was really cheesy. Let me shut up now. Chapter five here we come~! **


	5. Chapter 5: Akatsuki's Black Crow

**Hi everyone! I understand that I didn't upload in a full week and I'm so sorry that I didn't upload/update the story soon enough! It was killing me not able to get on fanfiction because of 1) school, 2) i'm kind of sick still, 3) website/account issues. So here it is now, chapter 5. Sorry for making you wait so long, so sorry! But it's here now, so enjoy it! :D**

**So, to my fellow Naruto fans! Ever heard of Google+? I drew a fan picture of Naruto and Hinata together, it's kind of a bad picture since I took it on a camera and color pencil art doesn't really come out well through a camera since it glares and stuff, but if you want to take a look at it, you can go to G****oogle Plus and type in the search box up top "Naruto" and scroll around to find a picture of a color pencil art of Naruto and Hinata posted by me which has the profile icon as a dalmation (seriously, you can't miss it. My writing style is very much the same when I write little captions in what I post, so it should be easy to locate.) If you still can't find it ... ****sowee! And you probably can't find it then, but it should be easy to find. DX But then again, who'd care to go look at a fan picture I drew? I have no life ... but I still love Naruto! XD So if any of you guys bother to look at it (because you guys are amazing that way) give me a few comments on that page or leave a comment when you review and tell me how it is! I'll take any requests to draw any other pairings so tell me before hand so I can make a Valentine's fan art of whatever pairing you want out of the manga/anime of Naruto (which will also be posted on Google Plus)!**

**Speaking of which, for Valentines day (which is in february) I want to make a special short story for you guys on any Naruto pairing just for fun! :D But I want you guys to tell me what you would like so leave a note in your review what story pairing you'd like for that Valentine's day special I plan to make beforehand so I can update it on time for you guys on February the 14th. So, don't miss out on telling me what you'd want for a short story special; or else I'd just go with whatever pairing I like, but I want to write it for you guys, so give me a shout out in your reviews on what you'd like to request for and I'll see the majority of the asks and decide from there. Thank you guys! Enjoy the story.**

* * *

**Recap:**

**The Akatsuki find Naruto and his gang a possible threat; what better plan is there but to remove a weed before it's sprouted? The Akatsuki plan to wipe out Naruto and his gang before they become a potential enemy to their secret and unknown plans while Naruto and his gang back down from hunting them out for a moment due to Naruto's injury.**

**But when the Akatsuki sends a threatening note that they're after them, everyone knows that Naruto is the first to be targeted. Naruto is attacked by Itachi at the hospital and he's alone, vulnerable, and defenseless; the worst time for Naruto to be fighting. While Naruto struggles hand in hand against Itachi, Shikamaru and the others quickly try to come to his rescue; but being intervened part way by Hidan and Kakuzu, Akatsuki members, they must first shake them off their tails before going to Naruto's aid without getting killed on the way. With tension and battle arising, how will Sasuke take it when he finally reaches Naruto and Itachi and faces the man who killed his family? And how will Itachi respond to see his brother after so many years? The two brothers meet and Naruto doesn't know how to take it ...**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Akatsuki's Black Crow**

"… _So how's the progress of the elimination of those fools?"_

Zetsu snickered, the phone pressed up to his ear with one finger curling the cord.

"Like you said, it's was going to be a bit messy. Turns out they're a bit more than they thought they could handle and were more bite than bark. Some of us have hung back and decided to wait and see what Itachi's and Kakuzu's two man groups have accomplished before they tried anything else. But knowing those guys, more than likely they'll be eliminated in no time."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone; Zetsu raised his eyebrows at the telephone before asking, "Sir? Sir, are you there?"  
"_Yes I'm here. Listen, I want you to keep a close eye on Itachi."_

Zetsu kept the puzzled expression on his face.

"Eh? Why him-"

"_He's been acting strange lately and I can't shake off the feeling that he might be up to something. I'm not sure what, but if it had anything to do against our group; report immediately."_

Zetsu frowned, but then he shrugged, following orders from the big boss was something he naturally was good at.

"Alright then. But I'm not going to like this; it's hard to spy that Uchiha. He catches me every time I try and stalk up on him."

"_You don't need to stalk him. Just keep an eye on him; note his behavior and the things he says. Always ask him where he's going off to when not ordered and just keep a close watch on his actions and behavior. That Uchiha has done a lot of things in his dirty past and has still kept a lot of secrets from us; a lot more from what I believe. Anyway, just do as I say Zetsu."_

"Yes sir."

"_Good. Now check in with the others, it's been a while since you last got an update from them. Make sure you keep a low profile in the city, we wouldn't want to tip off the police nor the public of our appearance."_

"Roger that."

Then he hung up. Zetsu waited until he heard the final beeps signaling that the other end had hung up and he too followed example. He stepped out of the phone booth and sighed as he stretched his arms up and around, rolling them in his sockets before grunting, "Alright. Time to check in with the rest of the gang."

Then in a flash, and to the blind eye of the public, he disappeared.

* * *

"Neji!"

Shikamaru tried to glance over to see what happened, but had to quickly refocus on the road since they had now entered a dark tunnel with a bunch of twists and curves; so much for not speeding today. He was actually surprised that the police haven't bothered to stop them already.

"F*ck! Choji, Shino! Can you tell what happened over there with Neji?!"

Choji squinted, trying to make out the blurred figures, but couldn't because of the speed the car was moving at and not to mention Shikamaru kept weaving his car in and out of lanes to try and shake off Hidan.

"No! We can't, at least not me-"  
"Neji's got shot."

Choji stared at Shino in mild surprise.

"Eh?! How could you catch that-"  
"It's not that hard to notice. If you kept watching, you'd see him in the back. I also caught sight of some blood; he's been shot."

Shikamaru swore a string of curses as Hidan rammed the car into the left side of their own; the car jolting to the right dangerously close to the tunnel's edge. Hidan laughed hysterically.

"F*CKER! WHAD'CHA GONNA DO NOW B*TCH?! TWO OF YOUR BUDDIES ARE SOMEWHERE MILES BACK SPLATTERED TO PANCAKES AND YOUR OTHER FRIEND HERE IS BLEEDING IN OUR BACK SEAT; WHAT ELSE YOU GOT SUCKER?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Shikamaru ground his teeth as he made a sharp turn, his hands rapidly turning the wheel as the cars screeched as they moved in unison, turning in the tunnel as they continued to move side by side; Hidan was unrelenting as he followed Shikamaru closely. Kakuzu brought out a larger gun before checking its ammo.

"Pull me up closer to the driver; I'll stop them dead short."

Hidan cackled evilly as he punched the gas.

"Hell yeah, blast the f*cker's head apart!"

Neji moaned in the back, a hand clutching his left shoulder where Kakuzu had let the gun tear into from his last shot; blood stained his hands and in the backseat. Neji sat up now, struggling to stay awake from the tempting unconscious; the pain was near to unbearable.

"Crap …"  
Neji glanced around the car, trying in hopes to find a weapon but found nothing, then he caught his eye on something else and dropped his hand from his bleeding wound, hopefully it would be suitable for what he had in mind.

Shifting so he sat quietly behind Hidan, he leaped up and grabbed his seatbelt (which he bothered not to wear in the first place) and wrapped it around Hidan's neck, pulling back sharply with all his strength to choke him. Hidan didn't see it coming and instinctively reached up to the strap, his hand leaving the wheel as he screamed.

"KAKUZU! THE F*CKER IS STILL ALIVE, HE'S TRYING TO –"

Neji yanked again and twisted the seat belt in his hands, tightening it yet still as Hidan choked on his words. Kakuzu cursed as he was forced to grab the wheel, guiding the car back to the road safely he glared at Neji angrily.

"You little b*tch. You're gonna get it this time-"

Before he could do anything else, a hand shot inside the car through Kakuzu's broken side window and grabbed him by the back collar, bringing him up to the window to see Kiba growling with a grin.  
"Yup. It's payback time."

He unlocked the car door and yanked Kakuzu out, cutting the seatbelt so that he came tumbling out freely, Hidan forced to take one hand away from his choking seat belt to grab the unattended wheel.

"KAKUZU! F*CK IT, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO LET THESE BRATS DRAG YOU OUT LIKE A MANGY DOG; F*CK, F*CK, F*CK!"

Kakuzu fumbled around in his pocket and grabbed a knife, bringing it out he reached behind him and stabbed one of Neji's hands successfully. He cried out before throwing himself backwards, his other hand clutching the bleeding hand with the knife sticking out as Hidan threw aside the seat belt from his neck, coughing as he focused on the road with his other hand rubbing the welt on his neck.

"*cough*cough* you little piece of *cough*cough* I'll get you for that!"

Suddenly a green blur came in from the back and grabbed Neji before leaving the car again, leaving Hidan to swipe at nothing but air, the car swerving violently as he left the wheel spinning.

"Lee!"

Lee grinned at Neji before saluting mockingly.

"At your service!"

Neji gawked at him in surprise.

"B-But I thought you two were thrown out of the car-"  
"We were. But lucky for us, Sasuke came just in time."  
"S-Sasuke?! He's here?! But where-"

There was a piercing gunshot and Lee regathered Neji in his arms before mumbling, "We better get off this car NOW."  
Neji shouted in protest, but Lee hauled him over his shoulder before leaping straight over to the other car, to safety.

"WAHOOEY!"  
"LEEEEE!"

They tumbled across the roof of the car and they felt hands sustain them.

Kiba grinned at them.

"Nice jump Lee."  
"Kiba! What about that guy you-"  
"Long gone. I sent him on his merry way back at avenue 25."

Kiba let out a laugh before they heard another gunshot.

Neji looked around bewildered at the noise.

"Who's shooting-"  
"Come on Lee, get him inside!"

Kiba and Lee slipped Neji down the sunroof before sliding it back shut, collapsing on Choji and Shino who both grunted.

"Hey!"  
"Sorry big guy."  
"Kiba! Lee! We thought you were-"  
"Yes, we were indeed thrown off the car to our inevitable doom, but then Sasuke came in and-"

"Talk about that later Lee. We need to get Neji bandaged up!"

Shino took one look at Neji's shoulder before unfolding the back seats down.

"Put him here."

Neji started to speak again in protest, but Shino insisted and they did as he told; laying him down across Shino's coat that he took off and spread across the folded down backseats. Shino brought out a medical kit and Neji eyed him in apprehension as he unzipped a certain compartment.

"Shino … what are you planning-"  
Shino slipped on a pair of gloves before bluntly replying, "Emergency surgery. We need to get that bullet out of your wound, disinfect it, stitch it up and bandage you."  
"Holy sh*t, get that scalpel away from me – KIBA! LEE! CHOJI! SOMEBODY, GET THIS MANIAC AWAY FROM ME-"  
"I assure you I have some medical experience, courtesy of Sakura Haruno. Now please, pin him down."

"DON'T YOU DARE – **KIBA! LEE!**"

"Sorry man, it's for your own good."  
"We're terribly sorry to see you suffer, it will over before you know it Neji!"

Choji turned away as Kiba cut Neji's sleeve away from his left shoulder.

"Oh God, I don't want to see this. I JUST ate!"

Shino twirled the scalpel in his fingers (much to Neji's despair) while analyzing his wound.

"The bullet must've gone pretty deep. I'll have to cut through some muscles and while I'm doing that, I'll have to be careful not to cut through too many blood vessels. Choji, tell Shikamaru to slow down driving a little, I can't perform this if the car is bumping around like a blind bear in a cave!"  
Choji gripped the headrest of Shikamaru's seat trying to steady himself as he leaned over shouting over the noise of roaring engines, "Slow down Shikamaru! Shino is trying to do emergency surgery back here on Neji!"

Shikamaru looked at Choji with wide eyes before attempting to slam the brakes.

"SHIKAMARU!"

He stopped and looked at Choji in surprise.  
"What?! You told me to slow down-"  
"For God's sake, slow down! Not stop! Slow!"

Shikamaru muttered to himself as he relieved the pedal of a heavy foot, the speed of the car easing as Hidan in the other car cussed at them nonstop.  
"F*CK YOU FOR MESSING WITH US! F*CK YOU FOR DOING SH*T TO KAKUZU! F*CK YOU CHOKING ME WITH A F*CKING SEATBELT! F*CK YOU FOR-"

Suddenly there was another one of those gunshots and Hidan's car lost one of its front wheels, the car squealing and screeching on the road as he struggled to recover.

"F*ck! Who the hell-"

A stranger on a motorcycle came steadily approaching to Hidan's left, a handgun in his left hand as he re-aimed. Hidan cursed as he tried to lose him, weaving around in the various lanes, but the stranger followed relentlessly.

"Who the f*ck is that!?"  
The stranger, who kept his helmet on to obscure his identity, clicked another bullet in place in the chamber of the gun, his eyes narrowing as he focused on one of the back wheels.

Hidan noticed where he aimed and violently drove his car to the right, ramming into Shikamaru's car as the bullet narrowly missed the wheel.

Shino cursed as the scalpel dug in too deep once the car was hit, Shikamaru cursed while fumbling with the wheel and Neji screamed in agony with Kiba and Lee strewn across his body to pin him down, wincing as a new flow of blood oozed and seeped into Shino's coat.

"Ouch …"  
"Shikamaru, what did I tell you about slowing down-"  
"I'm sorry Shino, Neji! That f*cker just rammed into me!"

Hidan, oblivious to what was happening in the other car, drove his car back to the left as the stranger cursed, quickly reloading while Hidan stuck a gun out the window at him, eyeing the rearview mirror to adjust before shooting.

"EAT THIS YOU F*CKER!"  
The stranger looked up in surprise as the gun went off, sending a volley of bullets his way. He instantly leaned back as far as he could, the motorcycle threatening to topple to one side being unattended at the handles, but having absolute balance and control on the motorcycle, he didn't fall and hit the road; he waited patiently as the bullets passed harmlessly over his head before rising back up, grabbing the handles before kicking the gas pedal up a notch to get closer.

Hidan heard the dull click of the gun being empty and cursed as he tossed it in the backseats, deciding that maybe now was a good time to abort the mission. However the stranger had pulled up to his window, a gun at his head as he flipped up his visor on his helmet; a pair of angry almost blood red eyes glaring straight through Hidan's soul as he growled venomously, "Say hello to your friend for me when you meet him on the road."

Then he suddenly shot at the last wheel at the front before swerving his motorcycle away, Hidan's car swerving and screeching in circles uncontrollably with only one wheel in action; Hidan's screams were unheard as the car toppled on its side before crashing into the side of the road and exploded in a flurry of flames.

The motorcycle sped away with the other car as he drew closer, tapping on Shikamaru's window before he rolled it down.

"S-Sasuke?!"

He nodded.  
"Stop the car, they're gone."  
Shikamaru made another move to slam on the brakes before Choji squeezed his shoulder.

"Geez! What's wrong with you?! You're a bit jumpy to hit the brakes!"

Shikamaru mumbled his apologies as he instead eased the car to a slower speed before stepping on the brakes, the car gently stopping to the side of the road. The other cars were in absolutely stunned shock as they either sped past (hopeful to get away before anything else happened) or stopped way down the road after the accident of Hidan's car. Sasuke stopped his motorcycle suddenly seeing Shikamaru stop the car, the tire marks leaving a black streak on the road as grit and dust puffed in the air; the smell of car exhaust filling the air. Sasuke unclipped his helmet, shaking his head to let his hair fall naturally around his face before sighing; then he dropped the helmet on the handles of his motorcycle before running to the side of the van, sliding the door open to face the stunned audience of Shino's surgery. Neji was lying down at the sole center of the boys while biting down on a wadded up roll of cloth that Kiba had stuffed in his mouth to stop him from screaming; blood streamed from the side of his mouth as he inevitably bit his own tongue.

Sasuke grimaced at the sight of Neji's shoulder.

"That doesn't look good."  
Kiba nodded with a frown.

"Yeah, it's not."  
Neji spat the bloody cloth out of his mouth at Kiba before screaming, "DOESN'T LOOK GOOD?! **DOESN'T LOOK GOOD?! HELL IT F*CKING HURTS LIKE SH*T AND –**"

Shino grabbed a syringe from the medical pack before injecting it into Neji, the pissed off Hyuuga stopping short in his words as his eyes rolled in the back of his head before passing out, leaving the others to sigh in relief so that Kiba and Lee could clamber off Neji.

Shino held up the empty syringe before tossing it over his shoulder.

"Sedation."

Kiba peeled off the bloody cloth from his face that Neji spat at him earlier before moaning, "God, what a f*cked up ride we had there."

Lee nodded in agreement as Sasuke asked, "Is Naruto still alone at the hospital? Do you guys know if there's an Akatsuki there with him right now?"

Shikamaru turned in his seat from the front and exclaimed, "Yes, he's alone at the hospital and we have no idea if he's alright or if there's any Akatsuki members there. But most likely, they are if they've already tried to mess with us. They'd probably go after Naruto first since he's the one injured and at a disadvantage. We were trying to reach him when those *ssholes jumped us – SASUKE! SASUKE WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"

Sasuke turned the moment he said that he was alone and ran back to his motorcycle, threw on his helmet and sped away. Choji shook his head at the stunned Shikamaru.

"Let him go, he's probably the only one among us able to get to him in time anyway. Not with us having Shino here performing surgery on Neji. Besides our car is in bad shape and is probably out of gas by now; we wouldn't be able to make it in time."

Shikamaru glanced at the gas meter; the arrow quivered near to the 'empty' bar.

"Damn … but we still need to get out of here. Before the cops come."

Choji nodded in agreement as Lee reached over and closed the van door, Shikamaru restarted the car before slowly joining the road, acting as if nothing had happened and that they had nothing to do with the car wreck several miles behind them.

* * *

Naruto cried out in surprise as he narrowly dodged Itachi's knife, the blade cutting into his arm and he jumped away, his hand immediately going to his arm as he backed away safely from Itachi; but he simply disappeared into the shadows once again, leaving Naruto stunned and frustrated. He couldn't attack him back, ever. He was too quick and always disappeared after darting in to attack now and then. He couldn't predict his movements and he was just … everywhere.

Naruto heard his eerie laughter once again before being spooked into running down the hallway of the hospital; knives studding the wall behind him as he moved in time. His bare feet sounded like thunder as he ran, occasionally slipping as he took wild turns down the hall slipping in the blood of the murdered doctors, nurses, and patients in the entire hospital – the knives coming in continuous barrages of attacks. Naruto then took a rational decision; though it wasn't one he liked personally, he knew that he was in no condition to fight neither did he have anything to defend himself with. For now, his best option was to escape. For once, he couldn't do this one on his own. He wasn't ready for this, how could he when he was just shot in the chest, alone and without anything to save his own ass?! Naruto cursed as the blood under his feet slid him forward to almost slam into the wall as he ducked low to turn, the knives catching tufts of his hair as he gasped at the sight of the emergency exit at the end of the hall. He ran like a mad man for it. Itachi cackled audibly as he ran, the shadows seeming to taunt him all around him as the remaining lights of the hospital began to flicker; he instead focused on his goal of reaching that door, gasping in agony as he struggled for air, his recent injury disabling him from pushing it too far. Eventually, just before he got within two meters of the door, the lights finally went out, blinding him as he ran into pure darkness, suddenly caught by the wrists by Itachi somewhere in the middle of the hall of darkness.

Naruto froze as Itachi's hands grasped his wrists tightly; the only thing he could see was his red eyes against the dark pitch black hall.

"Little fox, little fox, where are you running?"  
Naruto stared frozen in place back at the eyes, his blood running cold as the eyes disappeared, yet the grip on his wrists never ceased.

"Surely you're not afraid of a little dark? Come on now little fox, either fight like you mean it or die painfully. I'm getting quite irritated by your scurrying about; it's time we ended this foolish chasing and start fighting."

Then the grip on his wrists disappeared and a split second later, Naruto was kicked against the wall, his body colliding with the wall agonizingly. He cried out in pain, but was quickly cut off as Itachi's hand found his neck, holding him pinned up against the wall slowly choking him. Naruto coughed and gasped for air as he clawed at his hand, trying to yank Itachi's grip off of him. Itachi stood in the dark before Naruto with a merely disappointed look on his face.  
"Pity. Maybe I should've came another time to have a far more entertaining fight with you. Hmm … maybe I should've gone after Sasuke first."

Naruto growled through his choking coughs, managing to squeeze out, "F*ck it … if you went after him first … you'd be DEAD by now."

Itachi smirked in the dark, his voice dripping with enthusiasm and anticipation as he replied, "Oh really now? That's the first time I've ever heard something like this said to me. Do you really have such confidence in my little brother?"

When Naruto didn't reply, Itachi slacked his grip slightly; enough to let him breathe a little longer to talk.

"Well?"  
"I trust Sasuke … and I know he'll achieve a lot of things –cough, cough – but with a f*cker like you out on the prowl, he wants nothing but to – cough, cough – f*cking kill you. If I want to give Sasuke the best life he can live, we need to get rid of YOU first!"  
"Then why aren't you doing him a favor and defeating me by now?"

"Because … it's not my place to kill you myself."

Itachi's eyes slightly widened at the bitter sincerity in his voice, but nevertheless, his grip didn't fall from Naruto's neck.

"I promised Sasuke that I wouldn't kill you. He made me promise him that the only person, who'd be the one to lay the first scratch on you, and the only one to put the end to you, was Sasuke and Sasuke alone. I wasn't to interfere and I wasn't to do anything about it. If I didn't want him to leave my gang again, I'd have to oblige to his conditions and do what I must to keep him with me. There are so many others out there who could easily influence him and cause him to have that corrupted mind again; I don't want to see it the second time for the same reasons – to kill you."

Naruto felt the fingers slightly slacken around his neck, but subtly, Naruto hid that knowledge and prepped his grip on Itachi's arm as he replied, "Well … that sounds very much like Sasuke. Typical of my little brother to see things that way … he has always been, different ever since that night. Listen, Naruto, I-"

Suddenly the lights flared back to life in the hallway; Itachi, blinded by the flash of light, took a step back blinking in the light. But Naruto used this precious moment to tackle Itachi head on, reaching his arms around his midsection before tumbling to the ground with him across the blood and scattered medical reports. Itachi struggled to take control, but for his earlier mistake by being distracted by the sudden turn on of the lights, Naruto used his momentary perplexity to tumble over him and sit upon him while throwing punches, screaming curses and insults as he did so.

"YOU F*CKING PIECE OF SH*T! YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT SASUKE WENT THROUGH BECAUSE OF YOU?! HE WENT THROUGH TONS OF SH*T BECAUSE OF YOU!"  
Itachi quietly accepted another flurry of fists in the face, Naruto's anger rising to the surface before continuing, "YOU'RE HIS BROTHER! HIS F*CKING **OLDER BROTHER**! YOU HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES AS HIS BROTHER, FAMILY LOVE, AND YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT FOR HIM! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO STAY WITH HIM AND PROTECT HIM; NOT DO SH*T AND KILL EVERYONE AND STAIN HIS MEMORY WITH PAIN AND MISERY! F*CK YOU! F*CK YOU FOR YOUR B*TCHY ACTIONS!"

Finally when Naruto's energy drained and his anger was distilled, he threw one last massive punch before sitting back on his heels exhausted, still on top of Itachi as he glared at him gasping for air. Blood stained his knuckles and Itachi slowly turned his face back to the ceiling, his eyes falling on Naruto with blood smeared on his face from his nose and mouth. He spat the blood at Naruto's hospital clothes, a smirk on his face as he asked, "You're done with your tantrum now, little fox?"

Naruto suddenly went soaring through the air as Itachi violently grabbed him by the collar of his hospital clothes and heaved him up and off him and across the hall to the wall behind them with extreme force. Naruto felt as if his insides were ruptured, feeling intense pain in his chest as he collapsed at Itachi's feet on his own knees, coughing blood from the hand that covered his mouth. Itachi stood over him satisfied that he had reopened his chest injury, his eyes slightly crazed at the sight of blood staining his shoes.

"You're all talk and you even throw such weak punches. I can't believe that someone as pathetic as you was chosen to lead a gang – especially one with my brother Sasuke as your subordinate.

Naruto couldn't snap back, he couldn't retaliate as to the suffering he faced at Itachi's feet as he struggled to breathe through the blood he was constantly hacking up; his ruptured injury causing him to go through massive blood loss. Itachi crouched before Naruto before holding out a knife in front of him; twirling the blade between his fingers playfully as he plainly stated, "While you and your friends play 'gangsters', Sasuke is the only one among you with true purpose. He seeks revenge; he has a purpose to be with you guys. And that purpose solely surrounds me; and his devious intent to take revenge for the fellow Uchihas I murdered personally."

He grabbed fistful of Naruto's hair and yanked his head up, forcing him to wince in pain with blood streaming over his lips and dripping off his chin, Itachi pressed the blade up to his neck, the sharp edge cutting into his skin, drawing a slit of blood.

"You really are something Naruto. However you have failed to be anything entertaining nor serve as a formidable foe. I would leave you alive because you're not worth my time to kill, but upon orders, you and your gang I must do what I must to kill every last one of you. So … let's start with you."

Naruto gasped as Itachi's grip on the knife tightened, Itachi's gaze unbending and cold.

"Goodbye Naruto."

* * *

Sasuke barely stopped the motorcycle before leaping off the tumbling vehicle before rolling on his head and back to his feet, running full speed for the entrance of the hospital. As he ran, he pulled out a knife and made sure his gun was stuck at his hip ready to grab if needed. Sasuke flew up the steps and nearly slipped at the entrance.

"F*ck!"

He grabbed the side doors to keep himself from falling, taking the time to settle his mind to glance down wildly at what had slipped him. Blood. Lots of it. Sasuke grimaced, frozen in place a moment longer as flashbacks of that one night came back to his mind; _blood was everyone on the floor. It stained the carpets, flowed through the tile cracks, and splattered the walls in speckled streaks. Young Sasuke stares around him in horror at the source of all the blood, bodies upon bodies scattered abroad on the streets and inside houses, young Sasuke faces a new horror, a nightmare. _

Sasuke shook his head, gritting his teeth as he forced himself to move forward. He stepped over the dead bodies and blood to make his way to the stairs, slowly picking back up his earlier pace as he remembered what he was here for. Who he was here for.

He flashed through the stairs, trying to find the one floor Naruto was in now. Back at the fourteenth floor, the entire hospital fell under blackout, blinding Sasuke in utter darkness. He trailed his hand across the hand rails as he ran up the steps, counting off the hospital levels in his mind as he recalled Naruto's room being stationed on the seventeenth floor. Precious minutes were wasted as Sasuke struggled to find his way, but luckily the light suddenly turned back on, the door to level seventeen right in front of him. He ran towards the door and busted through, skidding to a stop at the scene before him. Itachi sat crouched before Naruto mumbling something to him with a knife pressed up against Naruto's throat; Sasuke reacted immediately, not skipping a beat as he threw a knife in Itachi's direction screaming at Naruto to duck. Trained to react to any order Naruto ducked without looking around or wasting time, stunning Itachi before he turned to see the knife within inches of his face before swerving sharply to one side to avoid the path of the knife, watching it dig itself into the wall at the other end of the hall.

"Now who the hell-"  
Sasuke came barreling into Itachi, wrapping his arms around his chest and body slammed him into the ground painted with blood and glass; giving Naruto a chance to crawl to safety. When they finally slammed into a wall, stopping them from sliding across the ground, Sasuke sat with his legs on either side of his brother as he pinned Itachi bitterly up to the wall, in the other hand a gun pressed up to his brother's head. Itachi took one look at his brother and chuckled, "Heh, well if it isn't Sasuke finally here."

Sasuke growled at him wordlessly as he felt every fiber of his being scream at him, _PULL THE TRIGGER! KILL THE F*CKER RIGHT HERE AND NOW; __**KILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIMKILLHIM!**_

Itachi kept the smirk on his face as he asked, "Well? Aren't you gonna do it?"  
Sasuke didn't bother, he instead kept it where it was and glared at him said angrily, "No, not yet. There are still a few things I'd like to ask to a murderer like you."

Itachi laughed, feeling the tension in his brother's arms as he tightened his grip upon him, Sasuke's knees used to pin down his shoulders and arm down with his weight, giving Itachi little control over his body. However he didn't appear unnerved or particularly worried staying perfectly still under Sasuke's gun smiling without a care in the world; which in return only unnerved Sasuke.  
"Why are you smiling!?"  
"Because I get to see my little brother again; and maybe this time I'll get to kill you."

"Well that isn't going to happen; you can go f*ck yourself. When I'm through with you, you'll be dead."

As if to emphasize his point he clicked a bullet into its chamber in the gun, the eerie click of the gun resounding in the quiet hall as Naruto hid behind the counter to the right side of the hall watching with silent shock.

"I will kill you."  
"Eesh, that sounds really dark; even for someone like you Sasuke."  
"What do you know anything about me? You're the one who abandoned me, killed my friends and family, and skipped away not caring at all if I suffered from your ill actions. I don't know why you did the things you did, but one thing is for sure; I'm the avenger of the Uchihas. By my hand, by the very blood that flows through my veins; this Uchiha blood – I will kill you in memory of those you innocently murdered."  
Itachi smiled again, suddenly pulling an arm out from underneath his brother's knees and gripping Sasuke's wrist which held the gun, Sasuke froze as he watched his brother's hand tighten around his wrist.

"Really now, then why won't you pull the trigger now before I pull the gun away?"  
Sasuke watched in stunned silence as his brother forcefully and slowly drew Sasuke's hand with the gun away from his face, smirking as he added, "See? You're still too soft. You can't even kill someone who deserves to be killed. And I thought you were stronger than most-"

Sasuke pulled the trigger and Itachi quickly smacked his arm to one side, the gun releasing the bullet into the tiled ground, scraping the polished floor as Sasuke was momentarily distracted; Itachi used this moment to grab Sasuke and slam him to the floor next to him, the two eventually rolling around one another on the floor as they struggled for power over the other. Naruto wanted to help; oh God, how he wanted to help. But his injury wouldn't let him – keeping him back and all he could do now was sit back and rest, to prevent any severe bleeding. But still … Sasuke was fighting to the death with his brother there, how could he not help?!

Naruto however remembered bitterly the promise Sasuke made him swear.

"_Swear to me Naruto; that when the time comes, you stay out of it. Whether I die or not, you stay out of it all. Don't you dare step in to help me. This is something I want to do on my own. Swear?"  
_Naruto slammed a fist into the counter behind him, wincing slightly at the sting it left on his bruised knuckles.

"F*ck! I shouldn't have ever promised you … ever …"

Itachi swung his arm around behind him and rammed his elbow in neck snapping force, sending Sasuke falling backwards with blood rushing from his nose, causing him to gasp in stunned surprise, his vision blinking out once as he tried to regain his senses; Itachi twisted around free from Sasuke's grip and tore the gun out of Sasuke's hand, tossing it to one side before grabbing his brother by the neck and the other hand grabbing a handful of his hair; then standing up, he heaved with all his strength as he drove Sasuke's head violently into the glass window before them; crashing through the thin glass as Sasuke hung haphazardly over the edge screaming in agony; the glass slicing into his face and showers of shards sprinkling over his jacket – an amused brother dangling him over the edge taunting at him, "Didn't you say you'd kill me? Come on, you've got to do better than this."  
He looked at Sasuke's face and smirked, "Crying already little brother? Want big brother to stop playing so rough with you?"

Sasuke spat out a string of curses, "F*ck you! You f*cking b*stard, I'll kill you and make you go straight to bloody h*ll-"

Itachi pulled Sasuke back inside the hospital before grabbing the back of his brother's head again and slamming Sasuke's face into a table nearby, causing him to yell in surprise and pain as blood rushed in his mouth and scraped his face on the rough exterior of the wooden table. Itachi laughed.

"Look at you! Pathetic, weak, you're too hesitant to kill brother. If you really wanted to kill me, you should have the same bloodlust as I have; but when I look into your eyes brother, you know what I see?"

Itachi pulled Sasuke up from the table, leaning close to glare at his brother's injured face, forcing him to stare back at him in the eyes.

"I still see the same young, innocent and scared boy who was always talking big about how you'd surpass me one of these days. Look back at that now Sasuke; what have you achieved now? You still can't fight me, you're nowhere near my standards of what I'd call a formidable foe, and you're still spewing off your top about how'd you kill me and take revenge; that's bullsh*t!"

Sasuke stayed stunned in Itachi's hands, his words cutting into him like a whip; it hurt more than what he endured what was inflicted on his face – it hurt worse since he was breaking him down at the center of his very being. Itachi tightened his grip on Sasuke's neck, glaring with such hatred and distaste that he hissed, "Watching you act so arrogant and blind yourself from your condition; it makes me want to kill you now. I have no desire of calling you my brother if you can't even put a scratch on me. Sasuke, I expected more out of you, so much more."  
He shook his head and roughly tossed him like trash to one side, watching Sasuke collapse on the ground shocked and stunned as Itachi snapped, "The next time our paths cross, it better be more worth my time than it was now; I expect you to have changed somehow. This is ridiculous. You haven't changed a single bit."  
Itachi shot a glare at Naruto who glared at Itachi with such anger and hostility that you'd think he could kill him with his own eyes.  
"I believe I know who to blame that caused you to stay the same and forget your goal. Don't let those around you influence you Sasuke; remember that if you ever want to be the one holding the knife at my throat."

Sasuke struggled to his knees, his emotions boiling up inside him and he growled with unbearable fury building up inside him, he cried out angrily, "I'm not like you! I'll never be like you and I don't ever want to be! You killed my family, my friends, you wiped out everyone! You're cold, merciless, ruthless, you care about only yourself and your own benefits; whatever you have done for me has brought nothing but cold and meaningless point to my life! Because of you, I'm forced into a life of obligated duty to heed the cries of revenge from the blood of my family and friends that YOU spilled! I won't let them down, I won't let you walk away with their blood on your clothes, and ESPECIALLY-"

Sasuke got to his feet, tearing the shards of glass out from the cuts on his face, a twisted and dark menacing glare on his face as he pulled out a knife from his sleeves.

"-I absolutely refuse to be weak now and grovel at your feet like a scolded at child!"

Itachi eyed his brother and shook his head, smirking with pure amusement as he laughed at Sasuke's sincere anger, pissing his brother off even more as Itachi sharply replied, "Do I care about what you have to say? I don't care about your life and your well being Sasuke; those times I was your loving older brother is nothing but an illusion of me; what you see now is who I really am. Yes, I'm merciless, cold, and ruthless; I most certainly don't care about you and I don't repent of my actions killing the Uchiha bloodline. But Sasuke, before I leave, remember this."  
Itachi lifted a hand towards Sasuke's face, poking him roughly on the forehead like he used to in the days of their youth; the action brought a turmoil of emotions inside Sasuke; reminiscing about the bitter past and the good times he wished could've lasted forever, Sasuke stood stunned as Itachi glared at him with an insane grin on his face.

"Don't ever forget that glare of yours. The dark, menacing eyes of killing intent you just showed me. Cling on to that; don't ever let that go. Feed yourself the darkness that will lead you to me; give yourself the bloodlust and power that will let you maybe someday, face me ready to fight like a true avenger. You must learn to be like me to achieve the things to unravel the man I've become; someday Sasuke, when we meet again, I'll be expecting that from you."

Itachi turned to walk away, snapping Sasuke back to his senses, making him scream, "Wait, where are you going?! I'm not done with you yet, not until I either pass out or die! DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME ITACHI!"  
Itachi flashed back at Sasuke's side behind him, his lips hovering beside his brother's ear as he growled, "Don't you dare insult me calling me the one who's running away; you should be grateful you loathsome fool – I'm giving you a chance to rethink your actions and get stronger – then eventually fate will lead us back together to continue this fight. But for now, it's time I put the bookmark to this chapter of ours."  
Then Itachi chopped at the back of Sasuke's neck with the slant of his hand, watching him disgustedly as Sasuke collapsed in a blackout on the floor, knocked out by Itachi's swift maneuver.

Naruto saw Sasuke fall and cursed, "F*ck … "  
Suddenly he noticed Itachi staring directly at him. Naruto jolted with surprise as Itachi stepped over Sasuke and moved straight for him, a hand outstretched as he walked swiftly up to him and gripped Naruto with one hand.

"I'm supposed to kill you and Sasuke right now."  
Naruto felt his blood freeze; the man's grip on his forehead tightening as he added with venomous hate, "You two are meddling with the Akatsuki and will indefinitely someday intercourse our plans. However … I won't kill either one of you today. That, maybe, I'll save for another time."  
Naruto blinked twice in surprise at Itachi as he leaned over and whispered barely audibly in Naruto's ear his last message before standing up swiftly and disappearing into the shadows in a blink of an eye as the staircase door slammed open to reveal newcomers. Naruto snapped himself out of his stunned surprise to see who had come.

"S-Sakura! Kiba, Shikamaru, Lee, Choji – what are you guys doing here?!"

The pink haired doctor took one look at Naruto and immediately moved towards him, leaning down before him to snap, "What the hell do you think we're here for?! We came here to save your f*cking ass and we find you here all torn up and alone-"  
She reached for his clothes, intent on removing them to find his injury, but Naruto simply grabbed her wrist roughly shaking his head at her.

"Forget about me, help Sasuke!"  
He weakly jerked his head towards where Sasuke laid across the blood and glass, unmoving and bruised up as Sakura sat stunned in shock next to Naruto as Shikamaru and Kiba hurried over to check on him.

Shikamaru looked up at Sakura and Naruto and nodded, "He's good. He's still alive."  
Naruto roughly shook Sakura's wrist, jerking her attention back to him as he glared at her harshly, "What the f*ck are you doing here sitting around like a gawking duck?! Get on the move on, make sure Sasuke isn't injured too badly!"

Sakura's wrist was released as Naruto shoved her towards Sasuke none too gently, forcing her to fall backwards before blinking few times to bring herself back to her senses. She stopped the flow of overflowing emotions and instead got to her feet and got to Sasuke's side, gingerly lifting his head onto her lap as she nearly screamed at the sight of his torn and bloodied face. She observed closely and noticed the wood and glass shards buried deep inside the cuts; if anything, she'd need a place to perform careful surgery. She couldn't do it here in a destroyed hospital.

Naruto watched Sakura order his friends to handle Sasuke carefully as she walked with them down the stairs and he sighed while leaning against the counter resting for a moment as Shikamaru crouched down beside him, a concerned expression on his face as he mildly asked, "So … how was it?"

Naruto shook his head, sighing as he recalled the bitter conversation Itachi had with Sasuke.

"Bad. He gave Sasuke a real shocker. I'm worried that he might've actually influenced Sasuke to believe everything he said. I've never met his brother until today and now … now I know just how deadly and evil he is."

Shikamaru grimaced, shaking his head in dismay as he replied, "So does that mean that he's still up for his own revenge against his brother who just like … beat the crap out of him?"

Naruto glared at Shikamaru.

"Hey, don't view Sasuke as if he's weak because he got beaten so easily; that just means you should be wary of his brother Itachi even more now. For someone to beat Sasuke, one of the best fighters on our team, so easily, we're talking wicked skills here."

Shikamaru sighed, nodding as he held out his hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright, I know. I'm not trying to make it sound like Sasuke is pathetic or anything, of course I know he's a great fighter; for God's sake, he's not our second in command for nothing."

Shikamaru dropped his hands and hung them on his knees, his hands dangling out in front of him as he gave Naruto a slight smile sighing, "But you know; I'm just really glad you're alright. I seriously thought you were going to die, we almost did on the way here."  
Naruto frowned at Shikamaru, "Huh? What happened?"  
Shikamaru sighed, rubbing the irritated red skin on his palms where the car's steering wheel had burned and marred his skin.

"A two manned team from the Akatsuki came and drove mentally in a car trying to kill us. It wasn't the first time we met them; we met them earlier on when we were walking from the hospital back home – they tried to run us over. Only this time, they wanted to gun us down."

Naruto grimaced, casting his gaze to the tiled floor as he shook his head, "Aw geez … it's getting worse. Just like what he said …"  
Shikamaru blinked at him.

"Huh? Like who said what?"  
Naruto shook his head again.

"Ah, nothing. Anyway, I think we need to start taking this seriously now; the Akatsuki are now intent on wiping us out. We can't afford to be caught off guard like THIS again."  
Shikamaru nodded, the two falling in silence as suddenly Naruto leaned over and moaned, a hand to ribs where blood seeped through his bandages and clothes.

"Sh*t, it's still bleeding …"

"Why didn't you let Sakura have a look at you before she left to take Sasuke away?"  
"Why waste time on me when she can be there for Sasuke?"  
Shikamaru sighed, smiling at his friend and gang leader with respect, "Oh Naruto, the things you do for the sake of your friends; its spectacular how you managed to be so considerate of others."

Naruto frowned and waved it aside, "Whatever Shikamaru; just help me get on my feet and with the others, I want to get patched up too."

Shikamaru slipped one of his arms over his neck and helped Naruto gently to his feet, teasing him as they walked down the stairs to the bottom level of the hospital, "Bet you wondered how we made it here."  
Naruto rolled his eyes, snorting as he smiled, "Oh geez, is this another one of your long stories?"  
Shikamaru grinned, "Long story short; Sakura has some bad ass driving."

* * *

Zetsu appeared seconds after Hidan and Kakuzu had crashed into a flurry of explosions, hundreds of bystanders in the array stopped their cars to avoid the car wreck; a crowd forming around the scene taking pictures and crying out in loud shocked voices; police cars immediately heard from over the crest of the road miles behind. Zetsu weaved his way through the people unidentified, making his way to the car wreck before peering through the fire and demolished car to look at Hidan and Kakuzu.

"You two are such pathetic losers."

A hand shot out from the open window of the driver's side and fumbled with the door lock, tumbling out as he gasped from the smoke and various cuts and bruises tainted his face and arms, Hidan cursing as he stood beside Zetsu, "F*ck it Zetsu! Why don't you go through the two hour sh*t I had to go through because the boss said we had to! It f*cking sucked!"

Another figure tumbled out from the car wreck on the other side, one hand completely torn and deformed as a blade hung stuck out of his skin, he stood up and walked around the car side to join Hidan and Zetsu, yanking the blade out of his hand as he growled, "Those kids were better than we thought."  
Hidan growled in agreement, "Yeah! See?! Even Kakuzu agrees with me! That f*cking kid with the pineapple sh*t shaped hair – what kind of a sh*tty driver is he?!"  
Kakuzu hissed, "That Uchiha brat of Itachi's; I'm going to have to make Itachi pay for my right hand that his f*cking little brother stabbed."

Zetsu stared at the two bemused by the two.

"Whoa … so you two were totally wiped out by a bunch of wannabe gangsters?"  
Hidan and Kakuzu growled in unison, "Shut up Zetsu!"

Zetsu shook his head, his hands out to his sides in a shrugging posture as he tsked.

"Tsk, as expected. The boss didn't expect you to really be able to kill them all in one shot; besides, this was just to test and see if those guys can be capable of themselves and worth worrying over. Seems to me that the big boss was right; we should."  
Kakuzu crossed his arms frowning before asking, "Well since we 'failed' our mission; how did Itachi do with his? Did he kill the leader brat?"

Zetsu shrugged, "I still need to check in with him soon. It took me some time to try and catch up with you two sh*t heads; dry slowly next time!"

Hidan cursed, "F*ck it, we CAN'T! IF WE DRIVE SLOWLY, WE'D LOSE THE B*TCHES! SO YOU JUST SUCK IT UP AND DEAL WITH HOW WE DO THINGS!"  
Zetsu rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"Say what you want Hidan, no one f*cking cares. Kakuzu, Hidan, you two need to report to base and get patched up; I'll clean up your mess here that you sh*t heads made."

Hidan and Kakuzu growled against Zetsu, but did as told; everyone knew that Zetsu was well liked by their boss because Zetsu followed orders flawlessly and without any doubt that he'd betray or mistakenly reveal secret information to others. He was perfect at stalking/spying and was very close with the boss; making him the ultimate 'no' to have around when talking about stuff.

Kakuzu herded Hidan out one direction, molding in with the crowd of stunned civilians as they slipped past and headed back to their hideout without being noticed by the crowd. Zetsu turned to look at the remains of the car, unsatisfied that it wasn't burning fast enough; he fiddled with the motor and rewired the system to explode exactly after thirty seconds; enough time for him to get away and for the car to explode and be completely destroyed before the police comes to observe the remains. Zetsu hurried away from the streets and waited a little while up over the crest of a hill to watch the car explode and disappear in a cloud of flaming pillars; destroying all evidence of the Akatsuki's appearance in the city. Zetsu turned and sped away to find another member of the team that he had a feeling would have a lot of explaining to do.

"_Itachi, what sort of twisted plan do you have in mind that goes against your brother … and the team?"  
_Zetsu didn't stop thinking about it as he hurried to find him where they would meet at the end of a mission. Somewhere out of the city and far out into the open countryside, the cloaked man stands by his window staring outside at the birds and trees, though his gaze remained cold, dark and empty and void of life.

"Itachi Uchiha … "  
The cloaked man placed a hand against the window and clenched his fingers into a fist over the glass; scratching the surface of the glass as he continued to glare at the birds in the trees – some day, he'd change all of this. But first he'd need to deal with Itachi Uchiha … and what he feels is that Itachi was a double agent. He shook his head, glaring out the window one last time before turning away, keeping his face away from the sun.

"… Just what are you planning to do against me and my plans?"

* * *

**Yeah, so this chapter really had nothing to do with Hinata and Naruto together (sadly, sorry!) because this chapter was more about Itachi and his appearance in the story and it just didn't make sense if I like, bring Hinata into all of this yet because she has nothing to do with the Akatsuki (yet! BWAHAHAHAHA, stay tuned for that.) so therefore I didn't add her in this chapter. But I will in the next chapter and that'll be more about Hinata and her family the Hyuuga. So you'll be seeing her sister Hanabi and her father Hiashi more. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I apologize if it was not meeting your expectations and I'll try better next time. Stay tuned, keep reading and reviewing my stories, and please, if you're bored, have a little extra time on your hands, go to my profile page and take a poll please. It's my question about writing another story and I want to hear you voice your opinion, so please go take the poll. Thank you and I'll probably still be late updating things since school and finals (tests, yay - not) are coming up for me so I apologize in advance if I don't update as quickly as I could. Thank you all and stay awesome!**


	6. Chapter 6: Brewing Storm

**Hey guys! New chapter, sorry for the delays, I'm trying to find as much time on my schedule to squeeze in chapters so don't you guys worry, I'm not planning on ending these stories so short or anything so hang tight and please continue to be patient. Thank you all. **

**So chapter six! I'm pretty proud of this story; it's reached around 38 reviews and it's awesome reading all your positive feedback and the helpful tidbits that helped me tweak the story (like how Hiashi's name is not "Hirashi", but "Hiashi", thank you very much for that). Since february is coming soon, I want to make a valentine's special for you guys, I haven't seen any reviews asking/requesting for anything in particular so I'm wondering if you guys either A) don't care, B) still thinking about it, or C) lazy to even bother post a request. Anyway, I don't really mind if you guys are any of the three (or none of them at all and might be something else for other reasons) but I'm just a bit sad that no one want's anything special for valentine's day. Come on guys, I wanna make a cute fanfiction story of any Naruto pairings for your entertainment! So any of you guys, have an idea of what you'd like to read for a Valentine's day special, go ahead and post it along with your reviews; it'd be much appreciated. Thanks!**

* * *

**RECAP:**

**Naruto survived from Itachi's attacks and received a mysterious message from Itachi. Though it isn't revealed yet what he was told, Naruto is reluctant to say anything about it to Sasuke who was shell shocked by his encounter with his brother, severely injuring his face and facing emotional turmoil. **

**While Naruto deals with rewarding his group for their valiant efforts on staying alive during the events that happened in the past week, Hinata returns to her own home after her little birthday trip and learn that the news concerning the "Hyuuga Scandal" has become the heat of the publicity; now she'll face a few new things coming her way - which will eventually intertwine with Naruto's storm - the storm is brewing, and Hinata is far from prepared as Naruto is far from expecting anything soon ...**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Brewing Storm**

_Sasuke walked down the dimly lit road with his backpack strapped on his back; he hummed a soft tune as he took long quick steps homeward. He knew he was late; usually practice didn't take as long as it did, but today took longer since they had a competition coming up and so now he was walking home late. He wondered if his parents were worried. He wondered if his brother was worried._

_Sasuke rounded the corner and felt something splash under his shoes. He instinctively groaned, looking down to shake off the rain water or whatever it was and stopped. "Huh?" Sasuke took a closer look and took startled steps backward, his shoes leaving red stains across the road from where he stepped; a puddle of blood. Sasuke, disturbed, shook his head and gathered his bearings, working on stomping the blood out of his shoes convincing himself that perhaps it was road kill … yes, road kill. It had to be._

_He looked up and moved to continue on his way when he froze in place. He nearly screamed. Choking on thin air and feeling the overwhelming urge to throw up, he couldn't help but observe the landscape before him in utter terror; hundreds of dead people littered the streets with broken glass scattered across the ground that mingled eerily with the crimson blood that literally ran off into street gutters in a constant flow. Blood. Blood of the Uchiha people. His family generation's worth of superior bloodlines and incredible smart and amazingly talented men and women; all slaughtered and killed out on the road mercilessly. Sasuke clasped a hand over his mouth, gawking at the display and blinking while pinching his arm over and over, desperate to believe it was a hallucination; a lie. When it was clear it wouldn't blink away, that all of it was real, he forced himself to shut up. To choke back the growing alarm in his stomach and swallow his screams; he took an unsteady step forward towards his house, suddenly gnawed by worry – his family. _

_His unsteady steps grew into a firm stride; then a thunderous, violent rage as he dashed past the bodies and slid past the blood as he scrambled for the front door, crying out, "MOM! DAD! ITACHI!"_

"_SASUKE! DON'T COME IN-"_

_Sasuke heard his mother's voice call out to him before he heard the sudden stop. He felt his heart fall in horror as he threw his backpack to one side and ran madly down the hall towards his parent's room. Throwing the door open he stood paralyzed in fear. He saw his parents' dead, lying over one another in a heap of blood and lifeless eyes as they lay dead. Over them was their murderer; a tall, dark figure with a notable crimson gaze – the cold, dreadful gaze fell on Sasuke and the murderer lifted his sword, slick with blood as the blood oozed down to the man's fingers and stained his hand. Sasuke lost it. He screamed._

* * *

"NO!"  
Sasuke woke with a jolt, gasping with fear as he laid in what seemed to be a clinical bed with the sheets hot and sticky with his sweat; he bitterly kicked them away as he curled up in the cold air trembling as he tried to chase the dream away.

"No … no, no, no, no, no …"

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked up and saw Sakura standing beside his bed with a sad expression on her face. She collapsed to the side of his bed on her knees before grasping his trembling hand in her two hands before gasping through her sobs, "Please … don't cry anymore."

Sasuke laid there stunned as he watched Sakura hold his hand close, with his free hand he reached up to his face to feel the wet streaks of tears that had betrayed his image; now he looked like a total crybaby. Sakura held his hand to her face as she closed her eyes whispering desperately,"Please Sasuke … I know I can't do much. Compared to Naruto and the others, I can't fight as half as good as they can, I may know a few medical skills, but what good is that if I can't heal you in a blink so you can get back on your own two feet to stand? Sasuke, please, at least let me do what I do best; let me be by your side when you need support … let me become your shoulder to cry on."

Sasuke's stunned expression softened to a more composed relieved expression; he squeezed her hands back and she opened her eyes to look up at Sasuke, tears staining her cheeks as Sasuke reached over to rub them away.

"Sakura … thank you … thank you."

Then wordlessly, Sasuke gave her a small smile before gently pulling his hand out of her grip.

"I'll remember that … but please … can you give me a few minutes to myself? I need time to think on my own …"

Sakura sadly watched Sasuke turn around in his bed, his back turned to her as he lay on his other side avoiding her disappointed gaze. Deep down, Sakura felt rejected; unneeded and not ever truly accepted by the Uchiha she loved. Why? Why was it that he never gave her a straight answer? Wasn't it better to know he never accepted her than never knowing if he even appreciated her around at all? Sasuke didn't want to confront Sakura; he was too confused with his own problems with his brother to even begin considering Sakura's affections for him. It was too much to handle at one time. No, he'd handle his brother first then maybe … then maybe he'll turn to Sakura and deal with her later.

Outside Sasuke's hospital room stood Naruto. He observed the encounter between the slits in the door before closing the door, allowing himself to be swallowed up by the darkness in the clinic hallway. He took another deep breath in the medicine scented hallway before sadly shaking his head.  
"Oh Sakura … you two … what should I do to make that butthead acknowledge you Sakura?"

Shaking his head once again, Naruto turned to make his limping gait back down the hallway, clutching his ribs as he painfully took the steps needed before leaving the clinic completely.

* * *

Kurenai rummaged through her purse while driving back towards home, simultaneously pulling out Hinata's phone out of her bag while driving, she handed the phone backwards over her shoulder towards Hinata's open hand.

"Here you go!"

"Thank you …"

Hinata hurriedly pressed "ANSWER" while brushing her hair behind her ear before holding up the phone to her face.

"Hello?"

"_Oh uh, yeah, is this Hinata Hyuuga?"_

Hinata frowned, pulling back to take another glance at the caller ID, it was Neji but … the voice wasn't.

"Um, it is? M-May I ask w-who's calling?"

"_Oh, right, sorry, this is Shikamaru Nara-"_

"EH?! Shikamaru!? Oi! Shikamaru! This is Kurenai~! I'm driving the car right now!"

Kurenai made a wild attempt to turn around in her seat to address Shikamaru on Hinata's phone properly before Hinata yelped in fear, "Kurenai! The road!"

"Oh, right, right, right, sorry! Sorry Hinata!"  
Hinata calmed down when Kurenai regained control on the wheel, turning back to the phone she readdressed Shikamaru, "I-I'm sorry, Kurenai was driving and momentarily forget she was driving. D-Did you need something? I-Is Neji alright?"

"_It's fine. And uh, about Neji … sort of."_

Hinata bit her thumb, fearing the worst.

"…'sort of'?"

"_Yeah, you see, our gang got kicked around a bit yesterday night with a few bad jerks out on the road somewhere and your cousin … he got shot in the shoulder-"_

Hinata nearly dropped her phone, Kurenai giving her a worried expression through the rearview mirror as Hinata swallowed the lump in her throat, she retrieved the phone back to her as he finished speaking, "_- he should be fine now considering Shino knowledgeable on a few emergency techniques."_

"O-Oh, that's a relief."

"_Yes it is. He just wanted us to tell you that before he went to get examined by a real doctor so he doesn't have infection of anything. Just to tell you, your cousin will be fine. He's never been the one to do anything stupid or mindless when it comes to fights so you really shouldn't worry about him."_

"Y-Yes … "  
"_You can count on all the rest of us to keep him in check if he ever does fly off his top."_

"Y-yes, I appreciate your efforts …"

"_Oh, and in case you're wondering, Naruto is fine."_

Oddly enough, Hinata felt her sigh in relief, catching herself halfway the sigh as she mentally chastised herself; why was she acting so strangely?

"U-Um, t-thank you, t-that's a r-relief. C-Can you t-tell him t-that I-I said h-hello-"

"_Oh wait, here he is, hold on a sec Hinata-"_

"N-no, wait, I-I just want y-you to t-tell him-"

"_Oi Naruto~! Hinata is on the phone; you wanna talk to her?"_

_Oh no!_

Hinata felt a blush taint her cheeks as she heard a faint cry in the back of the phone, "_Huh? Hinata? The Hyuuga girl? Hell yeah, toss the phone yah pineapple head!"_

Hinata heard the phone whistle through the air before the phone crackled loudly as it made contact with Naruto's hand, the phone shifted around nosily before a crisp new voice filled her ear, "_Yo! Hinata! Whazzup?"_

"H-Hello N-N-Naruto …"

"_How have you been? Sorry if the whole gang business with me has shocked you. I'm especially sorry about Neji, it never should've happened."_

"N-No, N-Naruto, its f-fine-"

"_No, it's not. He got SHOT – I'm not sure about you, but getting shot isn't something to just brush off so easily."_

"N-No, I suppose n-not, but its n-not your f-fault I'm s-sure-"  
"_It kind of is if you think about it. I'm the leader of this gang; if I let even one of my friends get hurt … what kind of a sh*tty leader am I?"_

"T-That's not true Naruto!"

"_Is it? Because that's not what my heart is telling me."_

"Y-You'll do better n-next time I'm sure…"  
_"… What if there is no next time? What if next time, I actually let someone … die?"  
_Hinata blinked once before firmly replying, "Naruto, I'm positive that you will never, ever, let that happen to anyone."

Hinata could swear she could sense Naruto smiling on the other end of the phone as she heard the phone shift as he moved it in his hand, he gave her a light laugh before saying, "_Oh Hinata, if only I was as confident in myself as you are in me."_

Hinata blushed as he laughed again, his rich laughter making her want to hide in her bed in her room for at least a month. His laugh made her feel so self conscious and shy; it always seemed to break down the shell she lived in and was so alluring, she was tempted to step out of her shell herself. But she never had the confidence for that. Never had, never will.

"I-I was j-just speaking m-my mind…"

"_Which is nice to hear something like that come out from you Hinata; it just proves to me that you have a bigger heart than I thought."_

Hinata smiled behind her tentative fingers that touched her upper lip as she did out of habit when shy, though she knew he couldn't see her blush, she felt like he could.

"T-Thank you…"

"_So, question."_

Hinata paused before cautiously allowing him permission, "Go on …"

"_The uh, the time I met you outside that salon … is there a reason why you were dressed like that?"_

Hinata blushed furiously, remembering the terrifyingly awkward encounter she had with Naruto and now tugged nervously at her skirt (which was new and was uncomfortably short as Kurenai had bought nearly ninety percent of her new attire – she threatened to burn her other clothes at home …) over her knees as she mumbled nervously, "O-oh, u-uh … t-that was s-something K-Kurenai wanted me to d-do … she i-insisted on t-taking me to a l-little b-birthday t-trip g-gift and she w-wanted me t-to h-have a m-makeover … or whatever she called it."

Naruto suddenly laughed again on the other end, making Hinata slightly relieved to find him amused; though the blush didn't leave her cheeks.

"_That's so typical of Kurenai! Always wanting other girls to look their best, she's all about fashion so there's no way you can escape from her clutches. I remember one night that Shikamaru came back home from visiting Asuma and Kurenai's home and he was – BWAHAHAHAHAHA – dressed in the most sh*ttiest girly clothes like a sweet little girl – I swear, I thought he was a girl when he came in through the door, and we were like, only eight then! HAHAHAHAHAHA-"_

"_NARUTO!"_

"_It's true!"_

Hinata listened to Naruto and Shikamaru fight over the phone with Naruto shouting, "_Listen, Hinata, I'll call you later, this pineapple head here is – HANDS OFF SHIKAMARU! TEMARI~! YOUR BOYFRIEND IS CHEATING ON YOU – HE'S F*CKING GAY NOW! HE CAN'T GET HIS HANDS OFF ME-"_

"_SHUT UP NARUTO, FORGET WHAT THIS SH*THEAD IS SAYING TEMARI, I'M JUST TRYING TO GET THE PHONE-"_

"_SHIKAMARU IS __**WHAT?!**__"_

"_Hey, hey, HEY! Shikamaru, hands off me! You're sooo not attractive to me-"_

"_FOR GOD'S SAKE NARUTO, I'M NOT TRYING TO GRAB YOU, I'M TRYING TO TAKE THE PHONE-"_

"_GOOD FRIENDS! WE MUSTN'T FIGHT OVER TRIVIAL THINGS, PUT THE PHONE DOWN!"_

"_Lee! There's my man! Get this gay idiot off me-"_

"_I'M NOT F*CKING GAY!"_

"_SHIKAMARU, JUST FORGET ABOUT THE PHONE AND BE F*CKING SMART FOR ONCE -"_

"_Shikamaru is gay?! Naruto! How long have you known this?!"_

"_LEE! NARUTO! TEMARI! I'M __**NOT GAY!**__"_

Hinata kept silent as she listened to Naruto laugh and tease Shikamaru who was trying to get the phone out of his hand to stop him from detailing the event he had came home from one of Kurenai's makeovers and this Lee and Temari struggling to break the fight.

"_Hinata! I'll call you later okay?"  
_"O-Okay-"

"_NARUTO! JUST HANG UP ALREADY-"_

"_OKAY, OKAY, GEEZ! JUST GET YOUR HANDS OFF THE PHONE ALREADY-"_

Hinata listened the phone die, the call ended and the home screen blinked back on her phone's screen as Kurenai pulled over in the car to their drive way. The drive was shorter than she expected. Kurenai helped her out of the car and smiled at her, "Had a nice long chat?"  
Hinata gave Kurenai a modest smile, "No, more like I gave a short pep talk to a friend while listening to some average teasing."

* * *

Hanabi crossed her arms at her agent as she scowled impatiently, "Well?! Can I go out yet?!"

The agent turned to look at his agitated mistress before bowing his head respectfully with a bitter tone in his frustrated voice, "No ma'am. The crowd has doubled since the last incident, it's difficult for us to make a pathway out-"

"Forget it! You're fired! If you can't even do something as easy as this, you don't deserve to be my agent! While you're finding a new job, find me a new agent!"

The agent pursed his lips angrily together before bowing to her respectfully hissing between gritted teeth, "It has been a PLEASURE working for you MA'AM. I shall leave with precious experience from my time with you."

Hanabi sniffed at him disdainfully before waving at him away stubbornly full of herself as she scoffed, "Ugh, just get out of my face already."

The agent stood and turned heel, walking away from her as Hanabi's special attendant hurried up to her with a bewildered expression on her face, "Heiress Hanabi! Don't tell me that's another one-"

Hanabi tapped her foot at the hassled appearing attendant with agitation, the flustered woman pushing her glasses up her face while tucking loose strands of hair behind her ears as Hanabi agitatedly snapped, "Yup. Good riddance is all I'll ever say."

The woman sighed, shaking her head as she scratched off another name on her clipboard, "Please Heiress, consider we are short handed on employees to fill in the vacant spots you've carelessly- I mean, respectively fired. Your father would not approve."

Hanabi sighed, waving it aside with little heart.

"Who cares what my father approves of? Whether or not he likes it, I'm his only heiress. There's no one else he can turn to and-"  
"Well there is your sister Hinata-"  
"EXCUSE ME?"

Hanabi shot glares of daggers into the woman who jolted before mumbling a halfhearted apology; speaking of her missing sister around Hanabi was a taboo subject – speak of it and you're asking for a one way ticket out of the Hyuuga enterprise.

"I apologize … it's slipped."

"Whatever! Just get the guards to get those mangy news reporters and peasants out of the way!"

"Of course, we're working on it, please be patient-"

"I'VE BEEN WAITING HOURS FOR THEM TO CLEAR OUT-"

"It's only been five minutes heiress."

The woman lightly addressed her with a bare hint of harshness in her voice, trying to indirectly point out that Hanabi was being much too impatient with the matter, but Hanabi simply scowled, "Screw the public; I have spa appointment to go to in less than an hour!"

"You have PLENTY of time miss-"

"NO I DON'T! I NEVER HAVE TIME FOR MYSELF-"

"Let me remind you that you spend eleven hours having the maids paint your nails, buy you new clothes, and pamper you with an exclusive makeover-"

"That's part of my regular schedule of life Miss. Heathen-"

"It's Heather."

"-this has nothing to do with what I'm facing right now! This is a natural crisis! Why aren't they getting out of the way by now?! You know what, I'll do it myself-"

"No, Heiress, please, you don't understand what kind of people are out there today-"

"OPEN THE DOOR-"

"NO!-"

When Hanabi stepped into sight to open the door, the crowd outside sparked; with renewed energy they surged forward and crashed through the door, spilling into the lobby like a flood as the angry mob surrounded Hanabi shouting curses and chanting, "DOWN WITH THE HEIRESS! BRING BACK HINATA! DOWN WITH THE HEIRESS! BRING BACK HINATA!"

Hanabi glared at the angry protestors around her before screaming, "WHAT IS THIS?! GUARDS! **GUARDS!**"

Her attendant tried to send out for more reinforcements as the protestors began to throw their signs at Hanabi violently, screaming and shouting around her as they chucked their signs at her head. She screamed as she covered her head with her hands as the signs rained around her, a few slamming into her as bruises and cuts formed on her arms and hands. Eventually when all the signs were thrown, a few stepped forward to push her around between them, grabbing at her hair and scratching at her arms as she tried to tear herself away from the violent group.

"GUARDS!"

"CALL FOR YOUR GUARDS YOU SH*THEAD! A F*CKED UP PERSON LIKE YOU WHO FIRES EVERYONE AND HATES ON NORMAL INNOCENT PEOPLE DOESN'T DESERVE TO BE A HEIRESS! GO TO HELL!"

"**GUARDS!**"

"GET IN THERE, SAVE THE HEIRESS-"

"STAY BACK! WE'RE MAKING HISTORY HERE; WE'RE GOING TO FIX THE HYUUGA SYSTEM AND PUT COMPASSIONATE PRESIDENTS OVER ILL MINDED JERKS! THIS ONE IS GONNA GO DOWN!"

"**GUARDS!**"

Finally in stormed the police, they came in an orderly fashion with their shields pressing forward as they shoved in between the angry protestors as they formed a protective ring around Hanabi. The protestors beat uselessly against their shields and fought against the police, a few grabbing a few violent protestors before dragging them off to jail. Hanabi stood shell shocked in the protection of the police before a police man asked her, "Are you alright miss-"

"SHUT UP!"

The policeman frowned as Hanabi ungratefully ignored the man. She smoothed her hair and straightened her clothes; she wiped the blood from her cuts and gingerly touched the bruise on her lip before growling.

"They'll all PAY for this!"

Hanabi shoved past the police angrily as she shouted at her attendant, "Heathen! Take me home!"

Miss. Heather watched the furious Heiress march away arrogantly trying not to let the employees see her cry, and she bitterly hissed between her teeth as she groaned, "It's Heather you little …"

* * *

Hinata was lazily surfing the internet trying to find out another synonym for a word she planned on using her book when she fell across something interesting on the web; "_**OUTRAGE AT THE HYUUGA ENTERPRISE!"**_ Hinata couldn't resist it; she clicked the article and read the article:

**OUTRAGE AT THE HYUUGA ENTERPRISE: FURIOUS FIRED EMPLOYEES STORM THE FRONT DOORS DEMANDING A CHANGE IN THE FUTURE HEIRESS – WHERE IS HINATA HYUUGA?**

_**OUTRAGED HOW HEIRESS HANABI HAS BEEN CARELESSLY FIRING HER EMPLOYEES LEFT AND RIGHT, ANGERED FIRED EMPLOYEES ROUND UP TO FORM AN ANGRY MOB DECLARING THAT THEY EITHER NEEDED THEIR JOBS BACK AND FOR HEIRESS HANABI TO "SHAPE UP", OR SWITCH OUT THE HEIRESSES; THEY WANT HEIRESS HINATA BACK IN LINE. **_

_**THE MOB CAME AROUND SEVEN IN THE MORNING TO CONFRONT THE HEIRESS ON HER WAY OUT TO A SPA APPOINTMENT AND BROKE INSIDE MOBBING HER INSTANTLY. SHE WAS SURROUNDED AND SIGNS WERE THROWN AT HER IN A VERY VIOLENT MANNER AS THEY BEGAN TO SAVAGELY HARASS HER SHOUTING CURSES AND INSULTS AT HER FACE; IT TOOK THE POLICE AROUND TO FIVE MINUTES TO REACH HER IN TIME BEFORE ANYTHING GOT WORSE. HANABI HYUUGA IS FINE, BUT NONETHELESS SHELL SHOCKED. SHE LEFT THE SCENE FLUSTERED AND EMBARRASSED AND SOME SAY AT THE BRINK OF TEARS AS SHE RAN OUT; MANY OF THE PROTESTERS WHO WERE SEVERELY VIOLENT AGAINST THE HYUUGA HEIRESS WERE IMMEDIATELY JAILED AND AWAITING INTERROGATION AND OR JURY. **_

_**THE CURRENT PRESIDENT OF THE HYUUGA INDUSTRIES, HIASHI HYUUGA, WILL SHORTLY ADDRESS THIS MADNESS IN DUE TIME AFTER MAKING SURE HIS DAUGHER IS "ALRIGHT AND IN GOOD HANDS." BUT THE QUESTION ON EVERYONE'S MIND IS, WILL HE CHANGE HIS MIND AND GO OUT HUNTING FOR HIS MISSING DAUGHTER? OR WILL HE, LIKE HIS YOUNGER DAUGHTER, IGNORE THE PROTESTS OF HIS DAUGHTER'S FIRED EMPLOYEES AND CONTINUE WITH HIS PLANS TO MAKE THE TYRANT OF A DAUGHTER HANABI HIS HEIRESS? STAY TUNED MORE ON THE "HYUUGA SCANDAL" AS WE BRING YOU MORE ABOUT THE HANABI HEIRESS; YOU WERE READING FLASH NEWS AT KONOHA CITY – OUR REPORTS FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE.**_

Hinata scrolled through the pictures of her sister Hanabi being brutally harassed, she frowned as she scrolled through seeing the images of her younger sister cowering from the signs and hands that reached out to her menacingly; cuts and bruises on her arms and hands as she appeared to be screaming. Unfortunately there was a live video of the entire scene that an enraged protester taped as it all happened, an engrossed by the situation her sister was suffering through, she bothered enough to click on it.

The video was bad quality, but the roar in her headphones definitely showed how angry and loud the protesters were; they started by surrounding Hanabi. Her sister twirled around in the middle glaring at the protesters who chanted, "DOWN WITH THE HEIRESS! BRING BACK HINATA! DOWN WITH THE HEIRESS! BRING BACK HINATA!"

Hinata watched her sister scream for the guards before it broke down from there; signs were thrown, her sister still screaming for help as the protesters ran out of signs, began to push her around scratching at her arms before yelling curses, insults, and threats at Hanabi who still screamed for security.

Hinata only watched half of the video (even though it was only three minutes long) before clicking out of the window, shaking her head as she sighed in despair.

"Why won't they forget about me? Why can't I just disappear from existence …?"

Hinata gloomily logged out of her computer, unable to work while feeling miserably dampened by the entire Hyuuga conflict before turning in for bed early, even if it was only two in the afternoon …

* * *

Hiashi turned on the news, the plasma television across the room blinking to life as it spat a venomous report on the Hyuuga incident hours before, "…_and with the protestors on the rage, they mobbed the Heiress Hanabi and-"_

He switched channels constantly, flipping through different news channels as he disapprovingly showed it all to his daughter.

"_-The rage at the Hyuuga's front door-"_

"_-Furious fired employees-"_

"_-Heiress Hanabi was harassed-"_

"_-What have the Hyuuga have been doing-"_

"_-Where is Hinata Hyuuga?-"_

Hiashi ended at the last channel and turned it off completely, turning to give his daughter a disappointed glare.

"I'm not pleased."  
Hanabi scowled, sitting at her father's couch with a leg thrown over the other and her arms crossed; bandages covered her arms and covered the bruise on her cheek as she growled, "Hey, those employees deserved it! Father, you told me to fire those who didn't do their job right, I just did what you told me to do-"

Hiashi marched to his desk and pulled out his reports of fired complaints from his daughter's employees, he sat in front of his daughter with the stack pulled out as he read at the first few.

"Jonathan Marcus, door greeter, disrespectfully closed the door on Heiress Hanabi when trying to help an elderly woman inside first. Mary Lillian, desk accountant, talking on the phone concerning a family emergency while delaying Heiress Hanabi's check in. Luther Peterson, guard agent, unable to clear out protestors in less than three minutes."

Hiashi glared at his daughter over the tops of the sheets as the sheepish expression on his daughter's face.

"This is FAR from acceptable reasons to fire anyone. This is ridiculous Hanabi; you don't fire someone for … for …"

He pulled up another file, slapping it on the table before him furiously angrily raising his voice as he exclaimed, "…for spitting his gum out near your feet when he missed the trashcan!"

Hanabi sat up protesting in her own defense shouting back, "He meant to stain my shoes! He was giving me this look and spat so disrespectfully-"

"HANABI HYUUGA!"

Hanabi stiffened in her seat before sinking back against the couch, huffing angrily as she crossed her arms bitterly. Hiashi stood and walked to his window, sighing he rubbed his temples as he angrily exclaimed, "I did NOT appoint you my Heiress to be arrogant, selfish, and so rude to your subordinates! You're supposed to be respectful, mindful, and a loved leader-"

"Blah, blah, blah, whatever you say father, but what about how I want to lead things father? You always tell me, 'oh do it like this' and 'do it like that', but that's how YOU do it. I want to do it how I want to do it. I'll fire those I want to and keep those I want; end of story."

Hiashi turned and glared at his daughter with renewed anger as he roared, "NO HYUUGA PRESIDENT HAS EVER HAD SUCH A SELF CENTERED LEADERSHIP OVER THE HYUUGA COMPANY-"

"I'M NOT BEING SELF CENTERED FATHER! I'M BEING LOGICAL! YOU LEAD HOW YOU WANT TO LEAD AND I'LL LEAD HOW I WANT TO LEAD! YOU DIDN'T APPOINT ME HEIRESS FOR NOTHING!"

Hiashi glared as his daughter; who was now, uncharacteristically rebellious and defiant, this was not the daughter he envisioned as the future president.

He sighed angrily before hissing, "Get out."

Hanabi stiffened, recalling a similar exit after having a bout with her father; she stood, glaring straight at her father being hissing, "Just die already you old goat."

Hanabi stormed out of the office before he could react; Hiashi glared after his daughter who shoved past his employees rudely, sending a few falling to the floor with paper work that had been neatly organized flying everywhere. He sighed in an exhausted manner as he watched his daughter leave through the elevator. He collapsed in his chair and tapped the desk irritably before using the communications device on his phone receiver to address his front desk attendant asking, "Miss. Rumi? Can you please send in my advisor?"  
"_Will do president."_

"Thank you."

"_Anytime sir."_

The attendant picked up the phone and dialed the advisor's number to call him over, Hiashi sat at his desk in utter turmoil; unable to get his thoughts straight, he thought it would be best to ask a knowledgeable advisor for times like this.

The door opened a few minutes later as a tall man with silver, slicked back hair entered; he wore a dark pair of sunglasses with a security com linked from his ear piece to the receiver clipped to the front of his dark suit. He bowed to the president who waved it dismissively away.

"Drop the formalities Kakashi; I don't have time for them."

Kakashi shrugged, standing he addressed the situation bluntly, "Alright then, let me guess, does this have to do with teenage girl problems this time?"

Hiashi shook his head, groaning before asking, "Is it already out?"

Kakashi pulled out a rolled up newspaper from the insides of his suit holding it out for the president to look at.

"Happened to be walking down the street when I stopped to buy this. Amazing at how fast those news reporters report about things and get it all out in less than a few hours."

Hiashi rubbed his forehead irritably before sighing, "Kakashi, you're one of the most philosophical men around here-"

Kakashi snorted at the comment, apologizing mildly when Hiashi glared at him.

"-I'd ask no one else what you'd think about the situation. As your president, what do you think would be the best course of action?"

Kakashi folded the newspaper away thoughtfully before asking simply, "Okay then, answer this one question: do you still approve of Hanabi being your Heiress?"

Hiashi blinked.

"Uh, I do believe so-"

"It's a yes or no question sir. Respectfully answer to one of the other."

"Hmm, then I don't quite understand the question-"

"Does the prospect of Hanabi taking your position and having the entire company in her hands make your comfortable?"

Hiashi fell silent, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully before sighing, shaking his head, "Honestly … not at the moment."

"Good answer. No. This means that Hanabi might not be acceptable as a leader at the current time being. Unless she changes heart towards the employees of the entire company, she has no chance of being the leader she potentially can become."

Hiashi nodded, seeing sense in Kakashi's words as the agent replied curtly, "So my best course of action that I would highly suggest to you and seek a plan B; a clever plan in my opinion."

Hiashi raised his eyebrows at the man who leaned forward across his desk to whisper to him quietly, "If you really want Hanabi to be the perfect heiress, we teach her the hard way."  
"And what is that exactly?"  
"Jealously; works all the time."  
"Excuse me?"  
"It's sheer genius, first, you're going have to go public about this, strip Hanabi of her heiress title-"

"I can't do that! She's my daughter and my only heir-"

"ONLY heir?"

Hiashi frowned, remembering his eldest daughter (who was an utter failure and disgrace) before sighing, "Yes, yes, there was Hinata, but she's CLEARLY not capable of being Heiress-"

"Perfect, we'll use her in this then."  
"Excuse me? Now I'm lost, what are you trying to say-"

"Yes, Hinata. So after you take Hanabi's heiress title away, declare to her and the whole world, that Hinata is your new heiress."

Hiashi shook his head distressed by the outrageous plan Kakashi was trying to explain, "You're out of your mind!"  
"Just listen, okay? So after appointing Hinata heiress, Hanabi obviously will be outraged and confused as to why she was replaced by someone lesser than her and obviously upholding NO talents what so ever as to being a potential leader of the company. If it goes well, Hanabi will be more inclined to either A, learn from Hinata as to being a better leader, or B, driven by competition, eventually learn lessons as to being a better person morally and socially in order to challenge Hinata's position with a renewed change of heart; then perhaps, she'd be able to understand what you wanted her to be and be able to take this seriously."

Hiashi nodded slowly, grasping the concept Kakashi was laying across to him as he added, "In the end, if it succeeds, simply make Hanabi your heiress again and Hinata can probably go back to her old life or whatever you want her to do. However, if worse comes to worse, you should probably be prepared to accept Hinata as your permanent heiress."

Hiashi stiffened as he debated between the two outcomes; if Hanabi failed to show the results he would be hoping for, all hopes of Hanabi becoming a satisfactory leader would crumble away; he'd be forced to turn to Hinata. It was nearly impossible to teach his eldest daughter about the logics and functions of business work, but it was better to put a loved leader as president than a hated, cursed one who could care less about her fired employees; all in all, he might have to go with Hinata if it all failed. But he didn't plan on letting it fail in the first place.  
"Fine, let's go with this plan of yours. Do remember Kakashi, this plan falls on your shoulders; anything that goes wrong is your responsibility."

"Of course president."  
"So I suppose the first step to this would be finding my daughter."

"Indeed."

"Have any idea on how to do that?"

"I have a few sources I could turn to."

"Alright then, do what you will, but I expect some progress by the end of this week."  
"Have I ever disappointed you?"  
"You get my point."

"I'll be sure to give you an update now and then."  
"Good. You may leave now."  
Hiashi watched Kakashi bow again before turning to leave; talking to his receiver he began issuing orders to his minor agents who instantly replied back, the desk attendant waved at him who smiled back. Hiashi turned back to his papers feeling slightly relieved of his current situation as he wondered, would this lead to whole new dilemma? Whatever it'd bring up, he wasn't going to let it worry him right now.

* * *

Hinata heard the door being slammed on as she rolled on to her side blearily as she tried to blink away the sleep in her eyes. She sat up and yawned, rubbing her eyes before crawling out of bed to answer the unattended door. She crossed the kitchen and noticed a note pasted to the refrigerator in bright pink letters, "_Hinata, I left with Asuma to check on a few things and we won't be back until late tomorrow evening. I'm sorry I had to leave so suddenly, but take care, stay safe, keep the door locked and enjoy yourself! Love, Kurenai"_

Hinata turned back to the door (which the knocking had ceased upon) and opened it tiredly, yawning as she attempted to smooth down her crazy hair before bleakly asking, "Hello?"

No one was there. She frowned. She stepped outside to look around. There was no one there. She sighed, went back inside and locked the door.  
"Probably another group of some mischievous kids …"

Hinata stretched and yawned as she hiked back up the stairs to her room, opening the door to her bedroom she nearly screamed.

Naruto tumbled into her room from the window and jumped to his feet as he rushed at her, a hand on her shoulder and the other over her screaming mouth.

"Shh, shh, shh, geez, Hinata! It's me, Naruto! Don't scream on me girl! You're gonna wake up the whole neighborhood?"

Hinata calmed down, collapsing to the edge of her bed as she sighed in relief, a hand at her racing heart as she breathed back, "I thought you were a burglar or … a murderer or something."

Naruto snorted, his orange jacket flapping open at his sides as the cold current of the window flowed inside her room.

"Yeah, I don't blame you for thinking that. I am a gangster, which is sort of bundled up in the same category as 'bad guys' with burglars, thieves, and murderers …"

Hinata nodded, watching Naruto as he turned his attention back at her window as he worked on closing it back shut.

"S-So, u-um … why the w-window …"

"Hmm? Oh, because nobody was answering the door fast enough and it was really cold outside. I took an easier way in, sorry if I barged in or whatever; I didn't want to spend three minutes on hacking the lock on your door like I did last time. So rude of me to do the same thing twice."

He smiled at her which made her want to laugh; breaking and entering was the same thing whether or not you hacked through by the front door or barged in by the second story window. But Hinata didn't mind, he was no stranger anyways.

Naruto finally closed the window and drew the blinds, sighing as he dusted off his hands in good effort.

"Phew! Finally, that damn window gets shut…"

"I-It usually g-gets j-jammed …"

"Does it now? You should get that replaced."

"I-I don't want to r-really ask Kurenai for that … this is h-her house and even if I wanted to u-use my own m-money to pay for it, I really c-can't afford to …"

Naruto suddenly leaned forward at her, peering at her eyes curiously with his bright blue eyes as he mumbled, "Hmm. Hinata? Have you been crying lately?"  
"E-excuse me?"

"Your eyes are kind of red."

Hinata looked away, rubbing at her eyes as she made an attempt to make an excuse, "O-oh, t-that's nothing, just uh, m-my eyes are itchy …"

Naruto frowned, then he sat next to her on the bed, pulling something out from his jacket, waving the folded up newspaper before her.

"Okay then, I just wanted to talk about … this. I picked one up earlier today and … I was wondering if you were alright. You've heard about it right?"

Hinata looked at the headlines and paled, she looked away, hiding her eyes from his as she coughed softly, "Oh uh, yes … I have."

Naruto raised his eyebrows at her before folding up the newspaper and tossing it aside. He took one of Hinata's hands and with the other hand reached over and gently turned Hinata's face back to him. He looked at her gently in the eyes but firmly as he asked, "Tell me, honestly, are you really alright?"

Hinata's lower lip quivered, Naruto quickly added in case he sounded demanding, "I'm not saying you HAVE to tell me; I'm just doing what Neji would've done. He's obviously concerned about you and the Hyuuga family and I just want to be able to help you out as would Neji would want me to do since he's at the hospital taking a few tests. I know you go through a few things about your family and all so I just came over to check on you-"

He stopped mid sentence, his voice trailing off at the flash of a tear dripping off her chin. He squeezed her hand and softly asked, "Hinata …?"  
She didn't bother to hide her face or wipe the tear away, she simply hung her head and softly spoke, "My father … never liked me."  
Naruto sat there patiently, knowing that this may take a moment as Hinata began to tell her tale.

"I was always the one in my family that was the black sheep. Blundering around, unsure of myself, I didn't know what to do and I was good at nothing at all. In all my classes my father had me take, I failed miserably in and no matter how hard I tried, it was all in vain. I simply just couldn't manage any of it."

Naruto watched another sliver of tears trek down her face as she shakily added, "Then my sister was born."

Hinata felt Naruto's grip on her hand tighten as she continued to speak, she felt the impossible urges of stutters wanting to creep back in her voice, but oddly enough … she didn't.

"Hanabi was the prodigy in our family; she was everything I wasn't and everything I could never become. Father loved her and immediately switched hopes and spoiled Hanabi at a very young age. I don't know about now, but she was very self-centered and selfish when she was young; pampered and always cooed at how cute and talented she was, she was being spoon fed of her own glory and of course, it got to her head."

Naruto nodded, listening quietly as she sniffed, holding back another rush of tears as she choked out the rest.

"My father … when he disowned me, I decided it'd be best I just left before it got worse. My sister insulted me, my father hated to even see my face, the servants gossiped and my mother pitied me. No one was ever truly on my side. Neji wasn't there at the time; he was probably with you guys at the time. But … it got unbearably uncomfortable for me to imagine living a life of regret and so I just … left."

Naruto sadly looked at Hinata trying to make an effort to smile, wiping the tears from her face she looked at Naruto trying to cheerily speak, "But now, I'm glad I left. If I had stayed, I most definitely wouldn't have been very happy. I'd probably be married to some aristocratic man who I don't love and married out of arranged matters to tie some company bonds or something. I don't want to live like that. It's better to live as a writer here nearly penniless than to live in a luxurious life with those I don't love."

Naruto mindlessly reached up to wipe the rest of her tears away, sighing as he sympathetically replied in response to her brief story explanation, "Hinata … you … have a really good heart."

Hinata's eyes widened as he smiled at her genuinely.

"Most others would've left simply because they hated everyone. Or because they hated themselves. But Hinata … I bet you left because you loved your family and didn't want them to be embarrassed by you; so you left."

Hinata was tempted to cry all over again, how was it that this stranger she had only known for less than two weeks, know so much about her and understand her problems so easily?

Naruto kept the smile on his face as he continued, "Hinata, all in all, I think out of all the people I've met, you're one with the biggest heart out of them all."

Hinata blushed, Naruto's smile growing wider as he gave a small laugh, "Of course that's not a very big compliment; I've only met so many people, but it's true. You do have big heart Hinata. You see things in a very different and honest way. You never seem to hate anyone and you're always kind to everyone. It's a wonder that I actually got to meet you."

Naruto pulled his hands back from her face as she finally had stopped crying, she was slightly embarrassed. She shyly tucked the loose bangs behind her ears as she looked away, the blush on her face growing darker by the second.

"T-thank you …"

Naruto laughed, making Hinata turn to look at what he had laughed at; he reached behind Hinata to pull out the fox doll he had given her for her birthday a few days earlier from underneath her blankets. He played with the ears of the doll and grinned.

"I see that you love the gift I gave you."

Hinata blushed, watching Naruto brush the plush orange fur of the fox down as he smiled at her stuffed animal sweetly.

"Foxes … I think they're cool."

Hinata blinked in mild surprise.

"Y-You do?"

"Yeah, foxes are smart and cunning, though they may not be as strong as other animals or as scary or talented; they have the brains. They're quick hunters, lethal stalkers, quiet stalkers, and reliable spies if you think about it. Kind of a like a thief. Though there are a few qualities about foxes I resent but then again, overall, I like foxes."

He smiled at Hinata.

"What about you?"

"U-Um, foxes are nice I guess. I-I really don't have a favorite a-animal …"

Naruto smiled, setting her precious fox doll to one side as he stretched and yawned.

"Hmm, weird. Most girls have a favorite animal. I guess you're just one of the odd ones out huh?"  
Hinata felt her heart drop; was that supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing? Naruto smiled at her as he added, "I like strange girls."

Her heart fluttered again which made Hinata want to slap herself, she was uncharacteristically warming up to Naruto more than ever now …

"So Hinata, I know you're busy and all, but how about joining me and my friends on a little gang night tomorrow? It's something we do every time and I'm inviting about just about everyone I know. There's gonna be a lot of us there and I want you to get to know everyone better."

He propped his elbows on his knees where his chin rested perched on his folded hands, he grinned at her as he added, "I don't know about you, but someone always brings some killer cinnamon rolls."

He added in the last detail to entice Hinata to come; he heard from Neji that she loved cinnamon rolls and he could see it clearly on her face as she took in a sharp breath, her eyes growing slightly wider before cautiously replying, "O-okay … I guess I'll come …"

He stood, grinning at her as he clapped happily, "Great! I'll come to pick you up tomorrow, oh, and by the way, you don't mind playing a few games right?"

Hinata asked cautiously, "Games?"  
"You know, like one of the games we'll be playing is Mafia. You know, the game where a few people get chosen to be mafia, the others citizen, police, and doctor?"

He looked at the confused expression on her face and laughed, shaking his head as he waved it aside dismissively, "Nah, nah, never mind. You'll figure out what it is when we play it; trust me, its fun."

Hinata nodded self-consciously while biting on her thumb, Naruto sighed as he shoved his hands in his pockets as he had finally ran out of things to talk about to her.  
"So … guess I better get going now."  
"Hmm … this time, please use my front door."

Naruto laughed, finding humor in Hinata's comment as he nodded, "Will do Hinata, wouldn't want to jump off from the second floor to concrete ground; I'd rather have both my legs functioning and not reopen my wound."

Hinata stood to walk Naruto down the stairs and up to the front of her house. She reached out to grasp Naruto's sleeve as she asked shyly, "Um, how is your …wound?"

Naruto gave her a confused expression before realizing she was referring to his injury, "Ah that, yeah, I'll live. Nothing I can't stand through."

He smiled at her as she nodded.

"At least it won't leave a scar. At least that's what I was told."

"It'd be n-nice if it didn't."

"I think that way too. Well, Hinata, have a good night's rest, keep this door locked, your windows locked and stay safe will yah?"

He grinned as he winked at her, "Wouldn't want creeps like me crawling through windows and hacking through your front door."

Hinata blushed as he laughed, slapping her on the back heartily as he joked, "Just teasing with you, no one is going to do that, not as long as they know I'm around."

Hinata gave a nervous laugh in return as he made a move to leave. He waved goodbye to her and she waved goodbye as well. He shouted a reminder to her before she closed the door, "Tomorrow! Remember that! I'll be here around two in the afternoon!"  
She nodded, watching Naruto climb on his motorcycle, clip his helmet over his blond hair before driving away in a yellow flash. She smiled to herself before closing her front door, feeling happy and all fluttery inside as she walked with a skip in her step back upstairs to her room.

* * *

Naruto came late to the bar as he joined his friends at the table.

"Sorry guys; came a little late."

Sasuke looked up from the table and scowled, "Better late than never right?"

Shikamaru sighed as he shook his head at Sasuke before slouching in his seat against his girlfriend mumbling, "What a drag … why are we back here in this dump?"

Temari smirked, pushing her boyfriend back by putting a finger against his nose, shoving his face away from her shoulder as she laughed, "What? You a pussy and can't handle a few drinks?"  
"Maybe I am."

"Crybaby."

"Whatever."

Choji was examining the menu critically as he asked Jiraiya who came over to specially attend to them (which thank God, he was actually sober this time) a question, "When you mean Deluxe Special, do you mean like, ten pounds worth of barbecue or twenty?"

Jiraiya had to explain the deeper details to a very picky Choji as Shino sat there quietly watching a pair of fireflies dance lazily around the lamp overhead, always wincing as one sometimes got to close before darting away safely. Kiba was demanding his drink already and Neji (who had came back from his testing without any signs of any critical damage) shook his head sipping from a normal cup of water (drinking alcohol right after being shot wasn't a good idea in his opinion, which everyone respected). Lee was mumbling in corner why he was being rejected to consume a single drop of alcohol as Naruto addressed the group seriously.

"Alright boys … you know what tonight is."  
The boys turned to look at Naruto seriously as he grinned.

"We went through sh*t in the past week. Good work everyone for staying alive. Though I know I did a sh*tty job of keeping you guys together and up and alive on your own two feet, I say we did some hell of a good job out there keeping ourselves and each other alive."  
Kiba whooped from the side, "Amen brother!"

Shino yanked on his ear to pull him back to his seat shaking his head at him as Naruto exclaimed happily, "So tonight, I wanna celebrate by our usually and it's been a long time since we've done this, our little night fun of "Who's the Pussy Now?"!"

The boys cheered, Shikamaru burying his face in his girlfriend's shoulder as the boys began ordering their drinks. The ones out of the game were Choji, Lee, and Neji since they weren't heavy drinkers (Lee was an exception to this new rule because of his tendency to be extremely physical when drunk) and even Sasuke was willing to join; which was new. And a pleasant surprise came around the time they all had their first round.

"Hey now, you start a game without me around?"

Naruto turned and laughed, grinning as he held up his drink to the woman who walked over to them.

"Hey! It's Granny Tsunade!"  
"Watch it fox boy, or I'm gonna give you more than a beating last time you called me that."

Jiraiya poked his head out of the kitchen and waved.

"Yo, Tsunade! Long time no see! Came for another round of poker?"

"Not today thanks, I ain't got any money on me tonight! Maybe next time? Just get me my usual, I'm having a night out with these boys here – put it on their bill."

"Will do."

Shikamaru flustered.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm the one paying so why do I have to pay more?"

The woman sat next to Naruto smirking across the table to the boy as she smartly spoke, "Because you're a gentleman and I'm a penniless woman; be respectful once in a while why don't cha?"

The boys laughed and played the game on, trying to see who could stay sober the longest with the most drinks consumed, as they steadily grew drunker, they teased one another laughing and joking at who was drunker than who. Kiba laughed as he pointed to Naruto with a drunken finger.

"Heh, look at him guys! I think he's drunker than ALL of us put together!"  
Naruto smirked, giving Kiba a look as he replied with less of a slurred tongue, "You talk like a grandpa when you're drunk Kiba. You can barely point at me straight."

The boys howled as Kiba held out his hands in surrender, "You got me. You do have a point there. Guess I'm drunker than all of you b*tches."

Sasuke smiled (yes, he SMILED) as he leaned back and sipped from his cup, "Hmm, this would've been funner if Sakura was here."

Everyone looked at Sasuke as Naruto asked teasingly, "Why? So you could mess with her?"

Sasuke gave everyone a smirk.

"Oh please, I don't have time for things like that. I'd just like to see Sakura drunk; it'd be hilarious to see her out of character."

Neji rolled his eyes, unlike the others, still in his sane mind.

"Oh brother and I thought Sasuke could drink without getting drunk."

Naruto laughed, slapping Sasuke on the head as he joked, "Guess he did then; he only drank stuff that was spiked. But now he's drinking the full deal, of course he'd be a bit drunk right now!"

Neji rolled his eyes as Shino sipped from his cup silently, which everyone suspiciously suspected as still sober as Choji and Lee were wolfing down the barbeque. Shikamaru was lured into drinking by his girlfriend who was enjoying herself watching Shikamaru slowly yet steadily slip out of character, being overly affectionate with her and playing with her as if he was one of the normal kinds of cheesy boyfriends you'd see around in public playing with their girlfriends innocently. Which obviously, everyone could see Temari enjoying herself as Shikamaru lazily played a game of thumb war and the loser got to kiss the other for however long he or she wanted. It was sweet to watch the two play like little kids, which made them a popular discussion subject.

"Hey hey, you two are getting quite chummy in the back aren't you?"

Shikamaru pulled back from kissing his girlfriend (he cheated to win) as he drunkenly smirked at Kiba.

"Ha, at least I'm not the one who's single."

The boys ooed as Kiba snapped back, "Look who's talking! You're the one slobbering over your girl and you've embarrassed yourself tonight by letting her get you drunk to play with her! How pathetic can you get?"

"Pathetic enough to please my girlfriend."  
"The things guys do for girls; please, I'd never date a girl – bachelors baby, all the way!"

He whooped loudly as Tsunade chuckled.

"Oh please, that'll quickly change after you meet the right girl."

"Yeah, yeah, but until then, I'm staying si-ing-le!"

"I wanna date Sakura."

Everyone nearly choked on their drinks as Sasuke bluntly put it out there, he calmly sipped his drink as Naruto coughed through his burning throat exclaiming, "Sh*t! Sasuke, you really mean that?!"

Sasuke gave Naruto a placid expression as he smiled, "Mmhmm. I like her, she's feisty."

Kiba slapped the table staggering to his feet haphazardly as he exclaimed, "Whooo~ baby! Sasuke here has gone dangerous! You hear that girls?! Sasuke Uchiha, one of the sexiest men in town likes feisty chicks!"

Sasuke swatted at Kiba's waving arm, smirking at the drunk idiot grumbling, "Oh sit down already, you drunk b*stard."

Naruto smiled widely, leaning from his stool by the table he exclaimed, "Then you should ask her out soon Sasuke!"

Sasuke shrugged, suddenly engrossed in his drink as he mumbled, "Nah, can't yet. Gotta kill that son of a b*tch first."

Suddenly Naruto slammed the table, shocking everyone to stop doing what they were doing (he even stopped Shikamaru from making out with his girlfriend in the back) as Naruto glared at Sasuke bitterly.  
"Sasuke … take a moment and stop acting like you're drunk, okay?"

Sasuke eyed Naruto, seeing that Naruto had dropped the drunk act he too, followed example. Kiba looked at the two wildly before exclaiming in surprise, "Sh*t! You two are like f*cking immunes to alcohol!"

Tsunade watched the exchange between the two boys, their gazes locked on one another as Naruto began speaking, "Sasuke, you have no idea, what kind of a big chance you've got just sitting there on a silver platter just waiting for you to take it."

Naruto pressed a hand to his chest, pounding his own chest as he emphasized his point, "I, Naruto Uzumaki, a hopeless orphan boy, was in love with her once. She was everything I visualized for a typical girlfriend and I wanted to be the one to give her, her first kiss, be the first one to spend the night over at her house, have all these special 'First' moments with her. But I knew deep down, that in the long run against you, my love was short and unrequited."

Sasuke kept silent as Naruto rambled on, "Sakura has loved you for a really long time. Sure it started as a childhood crush; she liked you because you were hot, smart, and came from a rich family. But over time as she spent more time with you and grew closer to you and me, she developed true, dedicated feelings for you Sasuke. How many times must I sit down and talk the same sh*t to you over and over again Sasuke?!"

Sasuke watched Naruto glare at him as he pointed an accusing finger his way, "I'm not going to put up with this sh*t anymore. It's either you want her, or you don't. Answer that much Sasuke, then I'll stay off your case."

Sasuke kept silent, keeping Naruto's gaze as he mumbled, "Unlike you Naruto … I have a brother I need to kill and a girl I really like. But you can't do two things at the same time. So I'm choosing duty over self desire; I'm going to kill my brother first, then I'll consider Sakura's affections…"

Naruto harshly spat back bitterly, "What if it's too late by then? What if Sakura has moved on and no longer cares about you? She might find some other guy who will appreciate her and love her and spend her time happily with him?"  
"Someone like you?"  
"Hell no, I don't love her anymore. She's all yours for the taking if you just f*cking accepted that!"

"I know how agitated this makes you feel Naruto, but when it comes to Sakura and me, it only involves us; your voice in the situation holds no part in it at all. This concerns only us, not you."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke as Kiba intervened overly-hyper as he shouted, "HEY GUYS! LOOK AT THE TIME! IT'S TIME TO GO! LET'S GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!"  
He started by shoving Sasuke out, the group moving to stagger to their feet in a drunken manner as Neji took the car keys from Shikamaru's hands, "I'LL drive. None of you are sober enough to handle it."

Shikamaru gave Neji a mocking salute with Temari as support.

"Will do captain!"

Shikamaru had to pay Jiraiya the money required as Naruto made sure everyone got inside the van. He had to drag Shikamaru and Temari inside as they were sidetracked to making out passionately in the corner. He threw them in the backseats where the boys moved to make room for as he watched Sasuke board last.

"I meant what I said Sasuke. It's either now or never."

Sasuke snorted, jumping inside as he tossed back, "I could say the same for you and Hinata."

He flustered and Neji shot an alerted glance through the rearview mirror as Naruto exclaimed, "This has nothing to do with me and Hinata!"  
"You like Hinata right?"

"Sure! As a friend! Why would I want to date her?"

"Because she's cute, beautiful, smart, shy, sweet, oh, and you also mentioned something along the lines of attractive."

Naruto broke out into a cat fight with Sasuke as Neji shouted at them from the front, "HEY, YOU DRUNK IDIOTS! STOP SHAKING THE VAN OR I'LL DISABLE YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEMS AND TOSS YOU IN THE RIVER TO DROWN!"

The two stopped as they glowered at one another, the rest of the boys either teasing, joking, or laughing at the two. Neji drove them all home as Temari stumbled off to carry the half drunken idiot of a boyfriend to his room as Choji and Lee settled to playing a videogame together eating chips as Neji and Sasuke turned in early for the night. Kiba fell into a deep conversation with Shino as Naruto collapsed on the couch exhausted. He looked over at the game Choji and Lee were playing and saw the screen briefly show a field of lavender flowers. Oh, lavender. They were the color of her eyes and her favorite jacket. He smiled, vividly recalling the sweet scent of lavender that never left his clothes for at least two days, eventually remembering how he'd promised to take her to their little partying they planned for tomorrow. Hopefully his hangover wouldn't be twice as bad as it was last time as Naruto finally drifted off to sleep, sleeping off the rest of the drunken affects of alcohol before slipping off to deep unconscious.

* * *

Kakashi asked the local police about anything on Hinata in the past five years; they mentioned a sixteen year old girl had came five years back asking about any local renting homes. They thought little of it and didn't bother recording about her because most youths at the time asked the same thing. Kakashi asked them to be on the lookout as he decided to begin his hunt for the missing Hyuuga by asking around about the renting homes in the local area; he was lucky enough to have found the correct suburbs area of the city considering it was a very large area with a diverse culture that would have made it difficult to locate a past aristocratic female writer of which Kakashi found out where she lived by reading the author's blurb in the back; Hinata Hyuuga apparently didn't remember to exclude her general address area for the city. It had led him directly to her neighborhood. Kakashi considered asking a few others he knew about and decided that he'd ask later. He'd use the sources he had now before turning to meet the past others he had known in his earlier years.

* * *

**Yeah, this chapter is a bit awkward in my opinion, a bit bland and boring. There's nothing as interesting in here other than the promised dilemma arising between Hinata and Hanabi. (Anyone hating the Hanabi I portrayed here? The snobby bratty heiress? I'm so hating on her right now, though I'm sure she's really not like that in the real anime/manga. XD) I'll bring out Akamaru soon, don't you people worry! Kiba wouldn't be Kiba without Akamaru, so don't worry, the sick little dog will get all better sooner or later and come to life in the story eventually. **

**So as usual: keep reviewing, give me a request for any Valentine's day special story for any Naruto pairings, take my poll concerning my dilemma with a third story, and stay amazingly awesome. Chapter seven I'll bring out as soon as I can, again, I may be a bit late and finals as it turns out is in early february so yeah, I'll have a bit more time to write these chapters for you guys sooner before february rolls by. (I'll manage to get the Valentine's day special out on Feb. 14th regardless though; as long as I get some reviews asking for a specific story special.) So expect Chapter seven perhaps sometime before february. :D Stay awesome my fellow fans! Pencilfreak17 out~! XD (Let me know if my little "Pencilfreak17 out~!" gets cheesy. I'll make sure not to put that in my author notes anymore.)**


	7. Chapter 7: Gatherings

**Hi guys! Sorry for the REEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLY late update. I beg for your forgiveness. . I'm ashamed to have not been able to update sooner and I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting. Anyway, here it is now, chapter 7. I'll really try to get chapter 8 out there soon so please bear with me yet still! I made this chapter really long, so I hope that makes up for the wait. Enjoy!**

**RECAP:  
Now that the fights with the Akatsuki had passed over, Naruto and his friends seek a little bit of some down time to reorganize their thoughts and recuperate from the fights. Steadily Naruto and Hinata are growing closer as they fondly enjoy one another's company. While the Akatsuki are prowling in the darkest parts of Konoha City with dark intentions, Naruto invites Hinata to spend some time with him and his friends for a simple fun night together. Hinata gladly agrees, unsure of what would happen, but certain that it just may as well be worth it ...**

**Meanwhile Hanabi, the Hyuuga Heiress, was publicly harassed by a group of protesting fired employees; displeased, Hiashi Hyuuga, the president, seeks advise from his trusted head agent and retired detective - Kakashi Hatake. Now Kakashi is on the look for Hinata Hyuuga as Kakashi launches a plan to break Hanabi into a respectable heiress, and Hinata is the tool for just that. Send by Hiashi, Kakashi starts his work by working to find Hinata Hyuuga, first by meeting a few old friends ...**

**With the Akatsuki still around and the protestors against the Hyuuga Company growing by the day, will and Hinata and Naruto face something eventually in the end that they may have to start making tough decisions? Things will only get stickier with the Akatsuki and the Hyuuga Company; and it begins now. **

* * *

**Chapter 7: Gatherings**

It was tiresome to go around the entire city and round up the rest of the members; having spread out to do different Akatsuki businesses, Zetsu had to spend quite some time tracking down his fellow members and bring them together to have a meeting with their boss.

Zetsu finally had gotten everyone together, now they stood hidden in the abandoned railroad tracks beside the empty train cars; everyone was irritable and cranky because it was raining and they had to stay cooped up inside the train cars as they shared their progress to their current team leader – Konan, who was to gather their progress and report back to their head boss.

Hidan bitterly shifted on his feet around in the small train car, glaring at the rain outside as he cursed, "F*ck the weather! F*ck this train car! F*ck it all! Why are we here?! We could've decked out at a fancy hotel or sh*t – we have the f*cking dough for it! So why aren't we using it?!"

Konan glared at Hidan and hissed, "Kakuzu. Shut up your partner."

Kakuzu reached up from where he sat on the train car and yanked Hidan by his hood to sit down, growling at him angrily for having him be called out. Zetsu shook his head, knowing it all too well how frustrated Konan must be; those two were as annoying as heck.

Konan idly folded a slip of paper in her fingers as she eyed Hidan and Kakuzu.

"Alright then, let's start the meeting. First off – Hidan and Kakuzu, what did you accomplish?"

Hidan snorted, crossing his arms he snarled, "We would've f*cking done our job if it hadn't been for those nasty b*tches f*cking with us-"

"We failed our mission; they turned out to be a bit tricky to deal with."

Konan nodded as the paper crinkled in her hands as she rapidly began folding and smoothing out the edges.

"Okay then, you do realize the next time this happens; the boss will be disappointed in you two?"

Kakuzu and Hidan growled, nodding back at Konan who now turned her attention to Itachi and Kisame.

"And you two …?"  
Itachi was leaning against the back wall of the train car as he slowly opened his previously closed eyes; he turned to look at Konan before looking back at his partner Kisame.

"Hmm … how did we do?"  
Kisame snorted, shaking his head as he muttered, "Of course … let ME do the blabbering."

"Please hurry; I don't enjoy being in this train car any more than any of you do, so let's get this over with and go our separate ways."

Konan irritably folded her paper even smaller; Kisame shrugging as he rambled off, "Eh, I did fine. Talked a bit with the guy the boss wanted me to talk to. However, as for Itachi … he didn't kill the fox boy or his brother."  
Everyone looked to Itachi in surprise, their eyes questioning the ruthless man as to how and why he didn't finish them off. Itachi simply shrugged, sighed, and leaned back against the wall.

"Is there a reason why you didn't do what you were expected to do?"

"My assigned target, Naruto, was a difficult and tricky target. He was stubborn to die and quick on his feet – not wanting to waste my time I managed to reopen his wound – assuming that it would be fatal in the end, I decided to let him bleed to death. However that wasn't the case …"

Kisame pointed his large blade at Itachi and smirked, "Yeah, he was just being a total reckless loser."

Konan tapped her lip mindfully as she eyed Itachi with narrowed eyes as the paper in her hands crumbled.

"Very well … you do realize however that I'll have to report this to the head boss?"

"It's only reasonable that you do; as leader, he should know what I was able to accomplish and what I was not able to finish – it's none of my concern whether or not you decide to tell him."

Itachi shrugged as if to make his point and Konan bit her tongue to bite back a sharp retort. Zetsu was tempted to laugh; but he knew how irritating the Uchiha could be, he wouldn't be smug and laugh at Konan for that. Deidara was scratching his ear irritably as he muttered, "D*mn … when will this meeting be over? Sitting in a leaky box car … I have to agree with Hidan this time; we should've decked out at a hotel."

Sasori was playing with strings in his hands as he stopped weaving his complex patterns before eyeing Deidara.

"Hush Deidara, now is not the time for your sassy drama."

Hidan heard Deidara's comment and held out his hand exclaiming, "Alright~! One f*cker in this place who gets me! High five man!"

Deidara crinkled his nose in disgust and pushed Hidan's hand away from his face; he sniffed and smartly snapped back, "I wasn't trying to support you Hidan, I was just agreeing with your point – which is like once every millennium."

Hidan wanted to chop off his head when Konan stepped in between the two and asked Deidara sharply, "You and Sasori; did you do your objectives as I hopefully presume?"

Deidara sighed, waving in the air dismissively as he pointed to Sasori.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, geez lady. Don't get your panties in a wad; Sasori has the data."

Sasori held out an envelope to Konan who took it gingerly. Sasori eyed her and sharply spoke, "I wouldn't open that if I were you; the man who gave it to us specifically instructed us that the only person who should open that is the leader himself. It's confidential business."

Konan eyed the two and sighed, she slipped it in her robe unmarred and she turned to the rest with clasped hands.

"Alright then, seems to me that there has been only ONE successful group. I'm mostly disappointed with Hidan and Kakuzu and surprised by Itachi and Kisame. However, you four will be just fine; the head boss has changed his mind and hopefully if it came in time – which it did considering you didn't achieve your objectives – he simply wants you to distract and keep this Naruto and his friends at bay and keep them occupied; make sure they don't catch on with our activities here in Konoha city and keep a low profile. Deidara and Sasori, you two keep doing what you've been instructed."

Hidan brightened and whooped as he punched the air, "F*ck yeah! I get to f*ck around with the f*ckers –"

"Shut up Hidan before I stitch it."

Kisame stood up and slung his sword over his shoulder, he looked at Itachi and smirked, "Well, guess it's our turn to have fun eh?"

Itachi shrugged, looking away sighing as he shook his head, "The things I get myself meddled into …"

Kisame snorted, "Yup, you should've just killed the two right then and there; spare us the misery of messing with a bunch of punks."

"You don't have to remind me Kisame."

Konan left first, in order to make sure they discreetly left the area without attracting any attention, as Deidara and Sasori left next, heading in the opposite direction. Hidan and Kakuzu scurried off to pin the location of Naruto and his gang's hideout, and Kisame waited for Itachi to join him at the exit of the train car. It was raining hard, the dry dirt now overflowing with water and mud as the water worked its way through the cracked earth, their shoes splashing in cold, muddy water with their hoods over their heads and cloaks tightly drawn close against the wind. Kisame eyed Itachi from underneath his hood and he asked, "Well, what do you want to do first?"  
Itachi eyed the turbulent skies up above them as the storm continued; he muttered as he finally came to a decision, "Hmm … we'll start by finding a certain target …"

* * *

Naruto cursed as he sat up woken up as he wiped cold water from his face. He was about to snap something rude, but faced a crashing headache – another hangover. Shikamaru stood over him with a bucket of water as he groaned, an icepack to his forehead as he muttered back, "Yeah, yeah, welcome back Naruto. Guess you forgot all that alcohol you drank last night huh?"

Naruto rolled around on the ground mumbling curses to himself as Shikamaru turned and threw the bucket at Kiba's head. Kiba yowled in sudden shock as he woke up and fell off the couch – laying there as he clutched his head because it hurt from both the hangover and the bucket. Shikamaru heartlessly staggered away, groaning to himself about girlfriends and Sasuke came out of another room staggering into the kitchen moaning as he groped through the refrigerator for a bottle of water.

"D*mn … I'll never drink that much again …"  
Naruto held up his hand as Sasuke tossed him a bottle, gratefully he took it and took a deep, long swig.

"Ahh … water … best thing ever. Anyway, good luck with that Sasuke; you know how we all are with alcohol."

Sasuke smirked as he took a tentative sip from his own water, "Yeah? Maybe it'll be easier for me to break the habit; I don't think Sakura likes guys who drink."

Naruto laughed, "Well duh, Sakura hates guys who drink. You know how she is; always brings out her special aspirin and starts scolding you like she's some kind of a mother. Good old Sakura, now that'd be a start if you stop drinking; after that, shape up and date her already."

Saskue shrugged, "Nyeh, like I told you, not yet."

Naruto threw the nearest object (a tissue box) at Saskue growling, "Well f*ck that. Date her already if you like her so much. You don't need to complicate things between you two."

Sasuke had successfully caught the tissue box and placed it back on the counter, Sasuke simply sighed shaking his head, "Oh just mind your own business. What about you and that Hyuuga girl?"  
Naruto blinked and frowned, "Eh? You mean Hinata? Nah, we're just friends."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Mmhmm. You know, there's an interesting study that says the almost 90% males who claim they're 'just friends' with a female, tend to be wishing for a situation where they could be 'more than friends'-?"  
Naruto chucked another object at Sasuke (an empty soda can) at his head and growled again, "Shut up Sasuke!"

"It's true!"

"Clam it!"

Lee popped his head out of the next room and exclaimed, "Hey uh, guys? Today is gang night right?"

Naruto stopped throwing the empty cans at Sasuke and turned to look at him.

"Uh, yeah, why?"  
"Well, for one thing, this place is a mess. Secondly, who's going to pick up the girls-?"  
"OH SH*T – WHAT TIME IS IT?!"

Choji, who was sitting in the living room chowing down on a new bag of chips while watching a few commercials on the TV, shouted out, "It's almost three pm-"

"SH*T~!"

Sasuke and the others watched Naruto jump away from the counter and stagger into the garage.

"I PROMISED I'D PICK HER UP-!"

"NARUTO, WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?"

Shikamaru ran after him trying to stop him, but Naruto had jumped on the first vehicle he saw and gunned the motor.

"NARUTO, YOU'RE GOING THROUGH A HANGOVER – AND YOU SERIOUSLY THINK YOU CAN DRIVE WHILE YOU'RE-"

"NEVER MIND THAT SHIKAMARU, I'M LATE!"

"WELL I DON'T WANT YOU TO DIE AND CRASH OUT THERE BECAUSE OF YOUR LOUSY DRIVING WHILE SUFFERING A HANGOVER; AND I DOUBT HINATA WILL WANT TO RIDE WITH YOU WHEN YOU'RE HAVING A HANGOVER, YOU LISTEN TO ME AND GET OFF THAT AND –** NARUTO!**"

Naruto drove out of the garage on a motorcycle and tore down at lightning speed down the road, Shikamaru stood in the middle of the garage groaning as he muttered, "F*ck … that's not even your motorcycle ... that was Sasuke's …"

Sasuke popped his head in the garage and started to speak, "Uhhh … where's my –"  
"Naruto took it by accident."  
Sasuke stared at the ceiling and sighed.

"Geesh … that boy I'm telling you has his head high in the clouds about that Hyuuga chick."  
Shikamaru eyed Sasuke who came over and handled Naruto's motorcycle.  
"What makes you say that?"  
Sasuke slid on the helmet and flipped the visor down, grinning at Shikamaru behind the tinted visor, "Well, don't you think it's kind of obvious the way she acts around him? I'm betting my money that she has a crush on our Naruto. But of course, he probably can't see that yet. Or maybe he does like her but he's just too stupid to know it."  
Shikamaru stood there considering it as Sasuke turned on Naruto's motorcycle, Shikamaru threw his arm over the handles and eyed Sasuke incredulously, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa now, hold it. Where are you going?"  
"I'm going to pick up Sakura."  
"For what?!"

"Gang night, its tonight."  
"Oh, well right – but you have a hangover!"

"Doesn't everyone?"  
"Send someone else – someone CAPABLE of driving without dying- like Neji, or Choji, or Lee – they didn't drink last night-"  
"Chill Nara, unlike Naruto, I'm a better driver than him, I'll be fine."

"Sasuke, please, listen to me – Sasuke!"  
Sasuke drove away speeding down the same road Naruto disappeared to and Shikamaru sighed, those two … they never listened.

* * *

Hinata paced her living anxiously as she eyed the clock on the wall. It was past two. Where was Naruto? Hinata shook her head, slapping her cheeks lightly as she rebuked herself.

"No! I mustn't be rude about this; perhaps he's running behind schedule … that's all. People have unexpected situations, this must be one of those times for him."

But nevertheless, Hinata paced her living room as she pondered on where and what Naruto could be doing right now. Hinata had spent the last two hours getting ready; trying on different outfits (even a few that Kurenai demanded she buy) and messing with her hair in different hairstyles. She wanted to look nice, but not too fashionable to where it was too noticeable – she didn't want to seem desperate or anything – not that she was. Hinata went to the restroom again and leaned across the sinks to skeptically eye herself in the mirror; her hair was curled in nice long waves down over her shoulders and she wore a simple dress that covered her knees modestly, and over that, she wore a coat since it had been raining this morning and it was awfully cold …

She marched back out and started to pace her living room again when she heard the scream of tires on pavement. She nearly jumped when she heard a slam on her door and she cautiously opened the door and saw him. He was panting heavily as he seemed to have dangerously parked the motorcycle, assumedly jumped off before he even completed the parking, and staggered forward and slammed into the door. He gasped and wiped the sweat from his forehead, he meekly smiled at Hinata and wheezed, "Hinata … sorry … I came late … I was being an idiot … I was drinking last night and well … lost my memory for a moment there …"

Hinata took one whiff of Naruto and sneezed, by golly, he stunk of alcohol! Hinata coughed and made an effort to smile.

"O-oh well, that's fine. That's understandable-"  
"No, no it's not. God, I feel so stupid right now. First I drink off like a bum last night, get myself a lousy hangover, FORGET to pick you up, arrive late, and I still smell like last night's alcohol – Hinata, I'm soooo sorry."

He grabbed her hands and sheepishly tried to smile, "If I could stop drinking, man, I'd really, really try. I bet it freaks you out that I drink or whatever …"  
Hinata flustered, "O-oh no, no, A-Asuma sometimes drinks in the house. Of course the only thing he's done out of ordinary is talk about random things about his future children with Kurenai …"

"Ah, okay then … but still, it's so rude of me to just appear to you late and dressed like this. So rude!"

He shamefully shook his head and sighed, his messy blond hair shading his eyes as he smiled at Hinata sadly.

"Sorry Hinata, I'll try next time."  
His smile was so sad and sweet that Hinata wanted to hug him to death (like she does with her stuffed animal fox he got her) but she constrained herself and simply patted him lightly on the shoulder.

"I-It's fine Naruto!"

He sighed and shook his head; he stretched his arms up and behind his head as he sighed.

"Well, whatever then. I'll just try not to drink next time. Anyway, ready to go? By the way; cute dress."

He grinned at her and Hinata felt her cheeks grow warm. She nervously tugged at the hem of dress and mumbled, "T-Thank you …"

"Let's go Hinata! Time's a wasting!"

He grabbed her arm and danced her out of the house; he helped her on the motorcycle and put on the second helmet before sliding in himself. Hinata, unsure of how wild of a driver Naruto was, and for safe measures, wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. He tensed for a moment but then relaxed. He gave Hinata a shy smile over his shoulder as he warned her, "Um ... just to tell you … I'm kind of on a hangover right now … soooo, the ride is going to be a bit … scary."  
Hinata wasn't sure what he meant but she never got to ask; she got her answer right away when he punched the gas.

* * *

Sakura sat in her office in the pharmacy going through her stocks and files when she heard the ring of the entrance. She sighed, stood up from her desk, donned her pharmacist coat and stepped out to the receiving desk.

"Hello, welcome to Natural Aid, how may I be of assistance for you today?"  
Sakura looked up from her clipboard before flustering. Sasuke grinned as he leaned across the counter with his chin propped on his hand as he held up a hand.

"Good afternoon to you too. I'll take an aspirin thanks – hangovers you know."  
Sakura sputtered before exclaiming, "S-Sasuke! What are you doing here-"  
"Didn't Naruto remind you? Today is gang night; I came here to pick you up."  
Sakura couldn't recall anything and shook her head, "Uh, I don't remember that dope reminding me of anything …"  
"Figures, he's so busy with the Hyuuga girl he can hardly think straight."  
"Who? The Hyuuga girl? Is it by any chance Neji's cousin?"  
Sasuke blinked in mild surprise.

"How'd you know about that?"  
"Naruto came to see me last time, asking around about that Kabuto guy. He happened to mention Hinata later on as we did some catch up."

Sasuke gave Sakura an uncharacteristically placid smile.

"Eh? Did he now? What did you two talk about?"  
Sakura twisted her hands together behind the counter from his view and muttered as she put away the clipboard in her hand.

"Well … stuff basically. Nothing important."  
Sasuke eyed Sakura before shrugging, he stood and shoved his hands in the pockets of his coat and jerked his head outside.

"Well, times a wasting, let's go."  
"Eh?! But I just opened the pharmacy! I can't leave now, not with the-"

The door opened and the two turned to see a flustering employee fumble inside apologizing, "Miss. Haruno! I'm so sorry for coming late, I forgot that today was your Gang Night with your friends and I almost came late! Forgive me, now don't waste any time! Please, go, go, go!"  
The flustered employee grabbed Sakura's coat and shoved it towards her while herding her out the door like a mad woman, the two flustering as Sakura tried to talk to her employee but was unsuccessfully shoved out the door. Sasuke sauntered out behind her mildly amused as Sakura stood there stunned as the employee hurried back inside the pharmacy. Sasuke grabbed Sakura's hand and gently pulled her towards the motorcycle parked near the road.

"Well, that's one problem solved. Now let's go."

"W-Wait, Sasuke, what about my pharmacy-"  
"Didn't you hire that employee for a purpose? Come on, business is not going to implode beneath your nose. Just relax a little and enjoy your day off."

Sakura was lost for words as Sasuke made her put on the secondary helmet and positioned her on the motorcycle as he felt her arms wrap around his waist. He smiled to himself as he turned on the motorcycle; he had a feeling tonight just might be a good night.

* * *

The tall silver haired man stalked the streets as he donned a wide brimmed hat and a simple green coat. Others looked at him but quickly lost interest once they moved past him, he kept his head low as he stalked towards his destination. He scanned the business signs on the shops and stores that lined up the streets as he read them, "Beauty Salon … Eye Doctor … Abercrombie-"

He bumped into a darkly dressed man and muttered an apology, tipping his hat apologetically. The man eyed Kakashi before waving back, confirming to Kakashi that his apology was accepted. The man next to him was dressed similarly who grinned at his partner; something smelled off about them. He was about to stop to find out more about them, but they had disappeared just as quickly as they had came. He stood there slightly shocked but kept his composure; whoever those two were … he could literally smell trouble brewing. He shook his head, wishing he at least remembered what they looked like and could only remember the black and blood red cloaks they wore – as if they were doing some kind of a cosplay. Kakashi shook his head once again as he continued walking, hunting down the one place he was seeking for. He finally found it as he got deeper inside downtown Konoha; he found _TOAD CLUB _and entered inside. He was greeted by a wave of alcohol, flirting women and men, and the scent of sweat and hot air. Kakashi softly coughed behind his mask, glad that he wore it because the idle women were throwing him interested looks, a few licking their lips as they searched for a woman next to him; wondering if he was already taken. He pulled his coat closer to himself as he hurried past them, pulling his hat over his eyes to hide his face as he headed straight to the bartender. The bartender saw him coming and stood there waiting for him to approach as he idly wiped a glass.

"What might I get for you tonight sir?"  
"Nothing, I simply come on business."  
The bartender raised his eyebrows at him as Kakashi asked, "Can I speak with your manager?"  
The bartender asked cautiously, "And who may be asking …?"  
"Kakashi Hatake. An old friend-"  
The bartender put down his glass and grabbed him by the sleeve, pulling him to one side before hissing to him, "Master Hatake! If I had known you right away I would've addressed to you sooner-"

"Its fine, I just need to talk to Jiraiya."

"Of course, of course; right this way. Might I warn you though, he's having a rather intense game of gambling with Tsunade right now, so keep your distance of flying glass."

The bartender led him down a darkly lit hall in the back and into a VIP room; he opened it and ducked instantly – a glass of alcohol crashing over his head behind him at the wall as Kakashi heard the squabbling inside:

"AW F*CK NO TSUNADE, YOU CHEATED!"  
"GO F*CKE YOURSELF JIRAIYA; I WON FAIR AND SQUARE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, TODAY I WAS ACTUALLY LUCKY!"  
"PAH! WHEVER YOU'RE LUCKY, SH*T HAPPENS! SO YOU MUST'VE CHEATED OTHERWISE SOMEONE WOULD COME RUNNING IN WITH SOME BAD NEWS FOR YOUR 'LUCKY' WIN!"

"STUFF IT TOAD BOY – YOU'RE SO DRUNK RIGHT NOW YOU CAN HARDLY SPEAK STRAIGHT!"

"AT LEAST I'M NOT THE ONE WHO'S POINTING ACCUSINGLY AT THE **WALL!**"

"F*CK YOU-!"  
"No, F*CK YOU-"

"A-hem. Master Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya stopped harassing Tsunade for his money back and snapped, "What?!"

"A visitor; Kakashi Hatake."  
Jiraiya and Tsunade stared in surprise as Kakashi stepped in view next to the bartender.

"Holy cow; Kakashi! How long has it been?"  
Jiraiya jumped to his feet and grabbed Kakashi's hand in his, shaking it warmly as Kakashi coughed – he reeked of alcohol.

"Long time I believe; last time I saw you, you quit drinking."

Jiraiya chuckled.

"Really? Then you mustn't have heard; I drink out of public's sight. But now, I shameful drink down my days here in the Toad!"

Tsunade came next to him and snorted, "The idiot is drunk; you're better off talking to me Kakashi – at least I'm more sober than he is."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever the woman here says – just know she's an awfully witch at poker."

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms beneath her chest smirking, "Whatever toad boy; so Kakashi, what are you here for?"  
"I'm here to ask Jiraiya – well, since you're here – both of you, about a few youngsters' whereabouts."

Jiraiya smiled, "More detective work?"  
"No, I quit years ago. Now I'm simply the head of security at the Hyuuga enterprise."

"Whoa~! Sweet job; how much do you get paid per year?"  
"Not a lot; just about fifty thousand annually-"  
"Fifty thousand?! That's how much they pay you security agents at the Hyuuga Enterprise!?"  
"You have no idea what kind of work I have to do there."  
"H*ll; sign me up, I wanna make that kind of dough."  
"It's not a lot …"  
"Still, pays a sh*t load better than managing this club."  
"But don't you like your club?"  
"Sure do; I'd like it more if there were some more sexy chicks in here-"  
Tsunade whacked him upside the head.

"Dream on old man; no woman in her right mind – old or young – would step a foot near you."  
Jiraiya rolled his eyes and Kakashi pushed them for his answer, "Please, you're getting off topic. I came to ask about the boys; not girls and clubs."

Jiraiya brightened at the mention of the boys, "Ah~! You're asking about Naruto and the others right?"

"Exactly."  
"How was it that you met them again?"  
"I used to be a teacher at their high school; then I quit to be a police and I had to arrest them a few times since they're nothing but gangsters last I saw them. Are they still playing gangster right now …?"  
"Yes they are; happy as h*ll they are. They get paid good dough by other gangs to drive away unwanted bad b*tches and protect a few neighborhoods; they're the good kind, I swear. They aren't the bad ones you see on the news …"

Kakashi sighed, relieved to hear that at least the boys were being good boys.

"Alright then, do you know where they are? Last time I went to the hideout they last had, it's been cleared out. Do you know where they live at now?"  
Tsunade thoughtfully tapped her chin.

"Wasn't it at Shikamaru's house now? Yeah, his parents decked him an entire house to himself and the boys just now moved in with him – it's their 'hideout' now."

Kakashi was given their address and he thanked them. Jiraiya held up a bottle of alcohol and waggled his eyebrows, "Come on now, join us for some drinks; it's on the house since you're an old friend. We're about to start a new round of poker-"  
"Sorry Jiraiya, but I have work to do that's urgent."  
Tsunade scratched her head before asking, "Uh, what do you need to talk to the boys for?"  
"Classified purposes. Thank you though for helping; I'll be on my way now."

He curtly bid the two a respectful farewell before turning to leave; the two shrugging as they closed the door to start a new game of poker and sharing the last bottle of alcohol between them. Kakashi eyed the address before tucking it in his pocket as he gratefully escaped the stuffy conditions of the reeking club. He stood out on the street in clean evening air and sighed in relief.

"Glad I'm out of THAT club ..."

* * *

"You're late!"

"Sorry; traffic was terrible."

Neji helped Tenten inside the house as Naruto lightly scolded him, "We were about to start without you!"  
"I wouldn't have cared. Did you drive safely? Is my cousin alright?"  
Neji looked around for his cousin and saw Hinata sitting on the low table with the others tentatively sipping her juice, Naruto smiled before replying, "Yup! She was alright …"  
Neji relaxed.

"… at least a whole lot better now since she fainted and took a little nap-"

"NARUTO!"  
Neji wanted to claw out Naruto's eyes as Lee and Choji came over to pull him back. Tenten stood to one side giggling to herself as Sakura rolled her eyes in the kitchen.  
"Oh brother …"

Sasuke frowned at Sakura as he asked, "Sakura, why are you in the kitchen?"  
"I thought I'd help with dinner tonight."  
"But … you can't cook very well …"

Sakura flustered in embarrassment as Kiba, who was cooking in the kitchen mostly, added, "Yeah, why the h*ll are you in here Sakura? Get out; I don't want you burning the pasta!"

He shooed her out and Sasuke laughed as he herded an embarrassed Sakura out and into the living room. Kiba turned to begin the lasagna and sighed.

"Right … now the really fun part; making something I never made before …"  
"M-May I be of a-assistance?"  
Kiba looked up and saw Hinata standing next to the table with the cookbook as she held her empty glass drained of juice; she had came in to put it in the sink but now found something she knew she could manage. Kiba narrowed his eyes at her, "Can you … cook?"  
"I-If I do say so myself; I am a woman after all …"  
"Alright then; think you can manage lasagna?"  
"With ease."

He was surprised as she immediately took command; she gathered the ingredients and pulled together the supplies needed. She chopped, sliced, mixed, boiled, steamed – she even dealt with the pasta Kiba was making. He stared in surprise as Naruto came in to see what Hinata was up to; he was equally as surprise to see the Hyuuga girl working at rapid speed; she seemed at ease as she had tied up her hair and slipped on an apron. Her hands worked in a blur chopping and stirring something in a pot simultaneously while she was reading the instructions off the cookbook. Naruto looked at Kiba and laughed, "Well we're going to have an interesting dinner tonight."  
Kiba nodded, still stunned as he stared at Hinata with the knife in her hand.  
"Uh yeah … geez … she's even finishing up the pasta I was making … she better be a good cook …"

Naruto laughed, thumping Kiba on the back he assured him, "I'm sure she's a great cook – anyone who cooks at that pace is without a doubt; a h*ll of a cook."

Hinata heard Naruto and flustered, breaking her pace for a moment before recovering; Naruto left the kitchen to join the others in the living room as Kiba took command of cleaning the dishes and cooking tools that Hinata put to the side.

In the living room, Sasuke sat next to Sakura while discussing the epidemic disease in some foreign country as Lee enthusiastically challenged Neji to a match by playing some sort of X-Box game with him as Neji rejected the offer; an encouraging Tenten at his side urging him to take the challenge. Choji sat beside Shikamaru sharing his chips as Temari made small talk with Ino. (Ino was a friend of Shikamaru's and was relatively close with Temari; acting like an older sister to Shikamaru, the beautician was not one to be trifled with.) Shino quietly was watching the news on the TV as Sai (an artist) sat doodling in the corner for some peace and quiet. Naruto clapped his hand and drew everyone's attention to him, "Alright now guys! Time for some fun! As we all know – IT'S GANG NIGHT!"  
The boys whooped as the girls cheered. He grinned and clasped his hands together smiling, "Now, since I was a bit … loose in the head this morning and didn't plan for this evening thoroughly, luckily Shikamaru had things planned so listen up as he talks about the games they planned!"  
The boys and girls clapped as Shikamaru was thumped on the back by the boys as he lazily sighed, "Well … I too was loose in the head this morning and I could barely remember half the things I planned. Luckily my girlfriend, Temari, recorded it all down and she even planned a few herself so don't blame me when a sh*tty game pops up …"

The boys laughed as Temari smacked her boyfriend upside the head huffing irritably but with a smile. Then she held up a list and started off, "Well, first off I thought we'd start this night off with a classic game we all know – Truth and Dare!"

A few moaned, others cheered. Temari shrugged and pulled out a bowl with slips of paper inside.

"Inside are either truth questions or dare proposals. Whatever you get, you have to answer or perform it. If you can't, you'll either be given a dare in replacement of the truth or a double dare in place of a simple dare. Any questions?"

Nobody asked and she started the game by having her boyfriend pluck one out. Shikamaru eyed his girlfriend as he held up the slip of paper, "How many kids do I plan to have? Really Temari?"  
Temari grinned and waved him on, telling him to go on and answer it as he embarrassingly sighed scratching the back of his head as he muttered, "Well, I suppose I did plan on having two …"  
"What was that sweetie? I couldn't hear you; I doubt ANYONE heard you – speak up!"  
Everyone laughed as Shikamaru flustered.

"I-I've always wanted two kids…"

Everyone ooed and started either giggling or laughing; teases thrown at how he'd get kids with Temari and he would blush bright red at the thought.

"S-shut up, all of you!"

Temari would laugh and Shikamaru would pull on her pigtails irritably. Then he picked Sasuke to pull from the bowl and he took one out before unraveling the slip. He stared at it for a while before shrugging.

"Eh, alright then …"  
Everyone stared and asked, "Well, what did you get? Truth or dare?"  
Sasuke turned the slip to everyone else to see and smirked, "Dare."

Everyone read the dare and whistled and whooped. Naruto clapped while laughing hysterically (resembling a hyperactive seal) as Sasuke was pressured to do it; the dare stating that he had to kiss a girl – obviously, Sakura. Sakura sat there stunned as she blushed, flustering as she denied the claims made by the others and whiles he was distracted, Sasuke leaned over and pecked her on the cheek quickly, almost unnoticeably – but not to Naruto's keen eye.

"AHHHHH! HE DID IT! HE KISSED HER ON THE CHEEK~!"  
Everyone broke into a roar or laughter and claps, Sakura sitting there with both hands on her face blushing to herself as Sasuke sat beside her casually shaking his head at the others. He chose Naruto to take the next draw and he drew dramatically, waving the slip of paper in front of everyone as Kiba watched from the sink in the kitchen smirking and shouting, "God d*mn it Naruto; open it already!"  
Everyone laughed and Naruto opened the folded paper and read it out loud, "Dare – take a teaspoon of pepper or salt and eat it without water for five minutes – eat it bare, you cannot eat anything else with it. Aw geez …"

Kiba tossed Naruto a freshly washed spoon and he heard Kiba ask Hinata for the salt and pepper – those came soaring across the air towards him as well.

Kiba smirked at Naruto from the kitchen and shouted, "Choke it down boy, choke it down!"

They all howled in laughter as Naruto sat there unsure of himself as he mixed the salt and pepper into a teaspoon's worth of the spices and held them to his face cautiously.

"Alright then, if I die, don't blame me – blame the game."

Naruto then gulped it down and ended up on the floor screaming and clawing at his mouth. Laughter filled the house as Naruto ran for the kitchen for a cup of water – and it was barely even ten seconds. Everyone was clapping like mentally insane seals as Naruto chugged down the water mindlessly, letting it spill over his shirt, as Kiba slammed the countertop laughing hysterically. Hinata finished cooking and only then realized Naruto choking and sneezing; his eyes red from the effects of pepper and salt and she hurried over patting him on the back worriedly while doling out cups of water to him one at a time to prevent him from throwing back up all that water.

"Slowly Naruto, slowly!"  
"Ow …my nose … it burns! Sh*t … f*ck that pepper and salt …"

He coughed as he took another deep gulp of water, shaking his head as he ran his tongue over his teeth, trying to get rid of the bad taste in his mouth as Hinata offered him a slice of finished lasagna.

"Here … eat this; it might clear out the bad taste."  
He thanked her and thankfully took a bite – he was surprised by the delicacy of the taste and how amazing it was. He smiled at her and spoke through the mouthful, "God Hinata! You have killer cooking!"

Choji popped his head in the kitchen and sniffed.

"I smell lasagna and pasta in here …"  
Hinata smiled and turned to gesture to the sitting food.

"Help yourself …"

Choji called to the others to get their food and the kitchen was swarmed as grabbing hands reached for their plates and moved back to the living room stuffing their faces with the lasagna, crying in its goodness as they praised her cooking. Sasuke chuckled to himself while taking small bites of his pasta, "If only you could cook like this Sakura; you'd be the perfect candidate for a potential wife."

Sakura whacked Sasuke with a couch pillow and Choji praised Hinata for her cooking a thousand times over; Kiba was at her feet begging her to marry him on the spot. Naruto laughed and pulled Hinata away from Kiba noticeably, a hand on her waist as he shooed Kiba away. Hinata blushed at the touch as he pulled her closer to him, as if guarding her from the clawing fingers of Kiba's.

After dinner (and serving seconds and thirds – even a few fourths) they continued the game until everyone got tired of it. Then they began the game Spin the Bottle; however to keep things clean, if a boy ended being matched to another boy, that boy would pick a girl for that boy to kiss. So Hinata watched in surprise as kisses were exchanged; Temari must've gotten kisses from the boys mostly as her boyfriend sat beside her warning her the things he'd do to her for the prices of her giving away 'free kisses' and Ino had the time of her life with a special kiss from Sasuke – a slightly fuming Sakura watching enviously. Naruto didn't want to spin but reluctantly agreed. He held the bottle in his hands as he muttered, "Eesh … I don't think ANY of the girls want to kiss me anyway, can I just pass-"  
The boys grinned and drummed on the table in protest, "No! Spin it, spin it, spin it!"

Naruto sighed and looked to Sasuke for help; Sasuke shrugged and grinned. Naruto placed the bottle on the table and spun, everyone leaning forward staring at the glass blur as Hinata went around picking up dishes. Sakura noticed the bottle sliding towards her and immediately grabbed Hinata by her wrist and yanked her towards the bottle's angle – crying in success in her mind as Hinata looked down at Sakura confused as she stood in the bottle's direction.

"HINATA~!"  
Neji stood up and demanded a re-do.

"That's hardly fair! Sakura pulled Hinata in front of the bottle's direction and therefore this should be an invalid spin-"  
"You sure you aren't saying this just because she's your cousin?"  
"No! Well, it's partially that, but mostly it's because she was unfairly thrown in the course of the bottle-"  
"Naruto, kiss Hinata already, before Neji kills you!"

"DON'T YOU DARE UZUMAKI-"

"HURRY, I'LL HOLD HIM DOWN!"

Kiba threw himself at Neji and laughed as he tackled the furious Hyuuga to the ground, rolling around and almost bumping into Sai and Shino who muttered to one another as they moved to one side to continue their quiet discussion. The rest drum rolled on the table crying and shouting for the much anticipated display of 'affection' as Hinata stood there confused with the dishes in her arms.

"Huh? What's going on? Did something happen-"  
Naruto leaped up and grinned at Hinata apologetically as he grabbed her by her arm, "Sorry Hinata, and don't faint!"

She wasn't sure what he meant and didn't have a chance to ask as he silenced her by his lips much to the delight of the on-watching audience and the fury of a cousin.

* * *

Hanabi stared at her father blankly.

"Excuse me?! Did you say what I think you said; perhaps I misheard, if you may … repeat that …"  
Hiashi stood in front of his daughter as he mercilessly restated his previous statement, "I, as chairman of the Hyuuga Enterprises, formally denounce you as heiress. In your stead, I have re-appointed Hinata Hyuuga, rightful heiress by her restored birthright, as my new Heiress-"  
"F*ck – what's the meaning of this father?! Why are you toying with me?! This can't be true – Hinata ran away, you can't find her and bring her back! F*ck it; why are you doing this to me?!"

Hiashi watched his daughter scream and kick the furniture around her, kicking over chairs and swiping shelves clear – vases and other fragile objects shattering on the floor – which were none of Hiashi's concern; all of them were Hanabi's possessions, if she broke them, she broke them. Why would he care?

"I'm sorry my daughter, but it is how it is. You can't change that now."

Hanabi glared at her father with tears streaming down her face as she roared back, "THEN WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DENOUNCE ME?! I WANT TO BE HEIRESS! I **AM** THE HEIRESS! I'M HEIRESS, I'M HEIRESS, I'M HEIRESS, I'M HEIRESS-"

Hiashi called in the agents and they came in and he jerked his head to his daughter who was throwing an awful tantrum, "Please take young Hanabi out of this room; she is no longer heiress from this point on. Please take her to the previously prepared room-"

"NO! THIS IS MY ROOM! **MY ROOM**! YOU CAN'T TAKE EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME JUST BECAUSE I'M NOT HEIRESS ANYMORE – **FATHER! FATHER MAKE THEM GO AWAY! NO, STOP, LET ME GO!**"

Hanabi screeched like an owl while thrashing in the arms of the agents. A few others marched in and began tearing down her posters and pictures on the wall and maids and servants worked to removed her belongings to her new room and clean up the broken objects on the ground and rearrange the room. Hiashi closed his eyes as he continued to hear his youngest daughter scream in fury, he opened his eyes again to see Kakashi entering the room as he raised his eyebrows at the scene of maids swiping up glass shards and rearranging books on shelves.

"I take it that she didn't like the news?"  
"She flipped out completely."  
"Seems like a predictable reaction."  
Hiashi sighed, shaking his head he groaned, "I wish things could've been better though; a way where I didn't have to anger my daughter this way … and I really don't want to see my other daughter either – what do I say to a daughter who is a failure and a disappointment?"  
Kakashi eyed the stressed president and replied curtly, "Perhaps give her a chance to prove you wrong?"  
"Excuse me?"  
"You've been focusing on the negative ends of Hinata Hyuuga. Perhaps it's time, as a father, to put yourself in the position to, regardless whether or not she's a disappointment, love your daughter for she is your own flesh and blood offspring."

Hiashi shook his head, sighing as he muttered to himself, "If only things were as easy as you make them seem to be Kakashi …"

Kakashi smiled and handed Hiashi a report, "Things are easy sir; I believe you just overcomplicate things and or over think them. Please think about it, and this is the report so far on the progress of finding your daughter."

Hiashi flipped through them as he walked out of the room with Kakashi back to his office, reading through the files as he nodded, not sure why Kakashi had to go to a club to get certain key information, but nevertheless, he never questioned the methods Kakashi used to find his answers. He flipped to another report, a daily report of the company, and frowned as he rubbed his chin.

"Huh … funny …"

"Is there a problem sir?"  
"No, no, it's just … "  
Hiashi frowned as Kakashi held his office door open for him, he hurried to his desk and pulled out last week's reports, comparing them he pointed out to Kakashi plainly, "Well you see, for the past few weeks, I've been noticing a slight – almost unnoticeable – decrease in our profits. Merchandise has been satisfactory and our profits are sky rocketing – but now the profits are slower to rise. Someone just might … "  
"…might be tampering with the company's profits?"

Hiashi sighed, nodding stressfully to himself as he confirmed Kakashi's suspicions, "Yes, tampered with would be the right word for it …"

"Would you like me to speak with the financial handlers?"  
"No, I'll do that myself. You just worry about finding my other daughter and controlling Hanabi while I'm working on this; I've heard and seen enough of that young lady in one day."

Hiashi straightened his tie and sat back in his office seat and pulled a new stack of papers up next to him, clicking his pen, he began the long process of signing and reading.  
"You may leave now Kakashi. Continue with the good work."  
Kakashi gave him a respectfully bow before leaving the room, leaving on a good note that the devil like heiress brat was slapped in the face by her own father's denunciation … he smiled as he flipped open his phone and called the news station.

_Oh how Hanabi is going to love this…_

* * *

Deidara and Sasori waited side by side in the dark parking lot, standing beside their silver car. To prevent the law on the lookout, they had shrugged out of their common black and red cloaks and swapped them for simple outfits- Deidara wore a thin clay white jacket over a simple black t-shirt as he scowled shoving his hands in a simple pair of jeans. His hair was still in the ridiculous bangs and as Sasori eyed him he snorted and snickered to himself, "You look ridiculous …"

"Shut up Sasori! You're the one looking gay right now – what are you, a fe-man?"

Sasori frowned, his red hair hanging over his eyes for a moment as he eyed Deidara dangerously.

"A fe-man ….?"  
"A female-man. Meaning that you dress or look like a girl. But you're a guy. Otherwise, you look gay right now in YOUR undercover clothes!"

Deidara sneered at Sasori as he glared back.

"Watch it firecrackers or I'll snuff out that smug spark of yours …"

"Then don't you laugh at me you gay freak."  
"I'm not gay."

Sasori looked down at his red jacket and skinny jeans, wondering what about his clothes that made him appear 'gay' to public.

"What idiot decided that boys wearing skinny jeans were gay people?"  
Deidara shrugged.

"Eh, I don't know. It's just common knowledge now in public-"

"Shh, here they come."  
Sasori snapped to attention as he nudged Deidara sharply with his shoe. A sleek black car came slivering past other cars and came to rest beside their silver car. Deidara growled as he rubbed his sore ankle Sasori kicked and followed the redhead to the black car's side. The driver seat door opened and out stepped an agent clad in a black crisp suit. He acknowledged the Akatsuki members and tipped his sunglasses at them.

"He'll see you in a moment …"  
"Take your time."

The agent nodded and moved to open the passenger's door immediately, stepping back as he swung the door wide open. Sasori and Deidara stood afar off watching as a polished black dress shoe came out planted firmly on the concrete parking lot. Out stepped a young man with long ash gray hair tied back in a ponytail, his black rimmed glasses gleaming in the dim lights of the enclosed parking lot. He eyed the two Akatsuki and broke into a smirk. He stepped out and straightened his suit, the agent behind him moving quickly to close the door behind his master. He stood before Sasori and Deidara and knowingly smiled, "We meet again … "

Deidara snorted, eyeing the man as he muttered, "Last time I heard from you, you were in your hiding hole for a few weeks. So the fox boy and his little pests mess with you for less than an hour and you're hiding in your hole like a scared rabbit-"

"Hush Deidara. We're here on Akatsuki business; now is not the time to question his performances."

Kabuto smirked; pushing his glasses up his nose he replied curtly, "No, no, all is fine Sasori. I understand what Deidara must be getting across to me. For your information, I was NOT hiding. I was doing exactly what my master ordered me to do. And for quite some time, I've been investigating and studying the Hyuuga Enterprises and their financial handlings; less than two weeks was I able to find a way into their money circulation."

Sasori eyed Kabuto before asking, "Speaking about the Hyuuga; this is why we came. Did you relay our master's message to yours?"  
Kabuto sighed, he nodded and rubbed the back of his neck as he replied, "Of course I did. Orochimaru seems to agree with the conditions. As long as you promise him the profits and supplies you promised him, he'll be more than happy to help you Akatsuki worm your way into the Hyuuga Company."

"It's a very large, international company. The latest technology, advanced security – the Hyuuga are hard to fool. And you're confident that your plan is … fool proof to worm us in? Are you certain that it'll work out … flawlessly?"  
Kabuto eyed Sasori and they held each other's gaze before he shook his head chuckling.

"My dear Akatsuki, how foolish minded can you be? Of course I'm not certain that it'll work – this has never been attempted before and the Hyuuga are such a monstrous company, that to even dare to lift a finger against them results with such drastic results that you wouldn't be able to lift your face to the public without humiliation and shame."

Sasori raised his eyebrows at Kabuto on that unhappy note.

"Then how do you expect us to trust you that this plan will work?"

"Look at me; who are you speaking to?"

Kabuto pointed a thumb at himself, grinning as he gloatingly spat, "Co-manager of Orochimaru's corporations from scientific research faculties to advanced hospitals; he has always been a closely knitted company with the Hyuuga. Since the Uchiha Company no longer exist; we stand as second best to Hyuuga. I'm the financial advisor, handler, co-manager – I'm everything to Orochimaru. He puts his trust in me and everything I do comes out with promising results. I assure you two Akatsuki's …"  
He grinned at the two before he shifted his head to the other side, his glasses glaring in the dim light as he continued, "… if I can take nearly three quarters of the Hyuuga's rising profits without raising any alarm from the Hyuuga and right beneath their unsuspecting noses, who better is there to trust but a brilliant schemer like me?"

* * *

"Poor Hinata … I feel sooo bad for her."

Temari eyed Sakura as she popped open a can of soda.

"Hmm? Why do you say that?"  
Sakura sadly looked over at the girls as she muttered, "Well, you know Hinata; she's such a shy person. Innocent, fragile, and by all means, mannerly. To be jumped by Naruto in such a way …"

Tenten patted Sakura on the back nodding, "Hey, hey now. It's alright. Hinata didn't die or anything; she's fine. But yeah, I totally understand what you're saying Sakura. Hinata must be in a bit of shock."  
Ino rubbed her chin as she put on a sly expression, "Say … I don't know this girl much, but I do know she's a heck of a lady when it comes to her body. However, did you guys see the way she blushed when he finished kissing her?"  
Tenten crinkled her nose at Ino, "Eesh, the way you ask these sick questions makes me wonder if you're in love with women …"  
"What?! Oh gross no! I'm simply a very curious matchmaker!"

"That does explain A LOT."

"Anyway, my point is! – I'm proposing that Hinata Hyuuga is in secretly in love with Naruto Uzumaki."  
Temari laughed, sipping from her coke she leaned back in her chair laughing still, "Hinata? Love Naruto? Oh please, spare me from this hilarious joke; the day Hinata Hyuuga confesses to Naruto of her 'secret love', will be the day I break up with Shikamaru."

Shikamaru suddenly appeared behind his girlfriend and grinned down at her evilly.

"Hey … I heard my name …"  
Temari froze and laughed nervously.

"Oh God … please tell me you just did not hear that-"  
"Yup. I did. And I'm really pissed off now. You girls mind if I take Temari away for a moment? She deserves some punishing for one, giving those boys free kisses when we played Spin the Bottle, and for two – for mentioning me in a not-so-nice way."

The girls shrugged, they watched Shikamaru grab his girlfriend's wrist as she protested, he dragged her into their room and locked the door behind him, no longer could the remaining three hear Temari who was speaking muffled behind a locked bedroom door to her boyfriend. Tenten sighed, resting her chin on her folded hands as she gazed dreamily at the locked door, "Mmm … I'm envious of Temari. She gets such a devious boyfriend; I bet you right now he's making out with her as 'punishment'."  
Ino rolled her eyes.

"Knowing Shikamaru now, he probably is. He's become such a romanticist; it almost sickens me to death. But then again, I'd like a guy like him."

Sakura eyed Ino before asking, "Didn't you used to like him-?"  
"Hell no! We were childhood friends; however that does NOT make us automatically a pair! How do you think he got hooked up with Temari for the past four years? ME. I introduced the two to one another and did the matchmaking! To me, Shikamaru is like a little brother in desperate need of a relationship with a female; and I got him just that!"  
Ino flipped her blond hair over her shoulder sniffing, "He should be thankful for my efforts."  
Tenten and Sakura exchanged looks before grinning and shrugging. Tenten looked over her shoulder around the empty house and asked, "Say … do you guys remember where Hinata and the boys went?"  
Ino rambled off immediately; "Well, Kiba and Sasuke left to reserve a spot in our restaurant we usually go to, Lee and Neji went to get the tickets for the movie we planned to watch and Naruto and Hinata left together to God knows where …"

Tenten shrugged.

"She probably wanted to go home."  
"Yeah, probably."  
Sakura tapped her chin thoughtfully before cautiously asking, "You know … I'm kind of starting to believe that Hinata just might … might like Naruto …"  
Ino slammed the table laughing like a hyena, "YES! See what I mean?! She's reeking of her desire for Naruto – Hinata and Naruto, mmmm; they sound like a cute pair! You know what, that's final, I'm gonna do it."  
The two girls eyed Ino strangely.

"Uh …. Do what?"  
Ino grinned excitedly as she opened up her memo in her smart phone, "What's it look like?! It's been a long time since I've had a chance to have to do something so fun! I'm gonna make those two date by the end of this year and just you watch – those two will be just as chummy with one another as Shikamaru is to Temari!"

* * *

Naruto pulled to a stop outside Hinata's house and pulled off his helmet. He shook his hair out and Hinata watched for a dazed moment as his hair floated back down over his head appearing almost untouched – his hair was incredible that way. Soon she found herself staring back at curious blue eyes.

"Um … you okay?"  
Hinata felt her eyes gravitate to his lips and blushed; remembering all too well how that went:

Hinata's eyes grew wide as she stared at Naruto – whose lips were pressed on hers. There was deafening squeals and whoops, a barrage of approving on watchers as they laughed and clapped at the awkward scene that was displayed. Hinata was too stunned to react, she was never kissed by a guy, never had she thought her first would be Naruto himself … Neji tore himself away from Kiba and tacked Naruto around his waist, surprised he yelped as he was torn away from Hinata, the angry Hyuuga rolling across the living room floor with Naruto screaming, "HOW DARE YOU TOUCH HER LIKE THAT! HOW **DARE YOU UZUMAKI**!"

Naruto was surprised for a while as Neji grabbed him by his collar shaking him back and forth like a maraca screaming in his face. Naruto ended up laughing and part in shame and embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head. He kept apologizing to the angry Hyuuga and laughing. Hinata pawed at her burning lips and felt her cheeks dance with a furious blush; she was kissed by Naruto Uzumaki. How … strange. For a simple touch as a kiss to stir something from Hinata in response; everyday, she was beginning to grow more and more convinced that she may be falling for the blond fool …

"Um Hinata, you alright?"  
Hinata blinked back to reality and smiled, laughing nervously she handed Naruto his secondary helmet gratefully.

"Oh, uh, thanks for driving me home. What were you asking again?"  
"Oh well, you were spacing out so I was asking if you were alright …"  
"Oh, well, I'm fine. Thank you for asking …."  
"Alright then … you sure you don't want to stay longer with us?"  
Naruto gave Hinata a pair of begging eyes as he slightly pouted, acting almost like a disappointed puppy.

"Even if I sort of embarrassed you back there … I promise I won't do that again."  
Hinata flustered as she nervously replied quickly, "Oh no, no, no, it didn't bother me. I understand that the game has pressured you and all so it's of no concern. As for attending the rest of your friends' gathering; I'd feel better if I stayed home. Your friends are delightful and such, yes, however I only wish to leave because I'm tired and had my fill of fun today …"  
"You sure? We were about to go out to eat again at a restaurant tonight. Then we were going to watch a movie …"  
"It's fine."  
"You sure?"  
"Positive."  
Naruto leaned back on his motorcycle and grinned sighing as he scratched his hair, he was laughing slightly.  
"Geez … it's been only like, barely a week and you're already talking without stutters …"  
Hinata stood there frowning – she hadn't been stuttering?"  
"Huh? I stopped … stuttering?"  
"Yeah, it's a nice change mind you."  
"I-I suppose …"  
"Crap. Did I jinx it?"  
"No, no, I was just – never mind."  
The two laughed lightly, an awkward tension lain between them as Hinata itched to escape behind the doors of her house and squeal and overreact about everything there; but then Naruto simply gave her a smile that could melt her into a puddle as he spoke, "Well, anyway, thanks for coming. It was great to have you over; fantastic cooking too! You should come over more often."  
"Thank you Naruto, your compliments are too kind …"  
"Anyway, you should get going. It's getting dark and you're probably tired …"  
"Yes …"  
"Are you going to be home alone?"  
"Uh … for a while, yes."  
"What? Where is Kurenai and Asuma?"  
"They left for an urgent matter two days ago; they should be back by tomorrow morning."

Naruto sat there looking up at the sky while in deep thought, then he resolved and pulled out his phone. He tapped at the touch screen and called Sasuke. Hinata watched Naruto sit there waiting for Sasuke to pick up.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey Sasuke, it's me Naruto, just wanted to tell you to tell the others to go on ahead and spend the rest of the evening without me."

Hinata stared in surprise as Naruto added with a wink in her direction, "I'm going to have to stay over at Hinata's place and watch over her until Kurenai and Asuma return."  
"_Eh? Why would you stay at her place-"_

"I'll explain more clearly later. Anyway, tell everyone and enjoy the evening without me. Plus, tell Neji not to hate me; that Hyuuga is scary as hell."  
"_Wait, Naruto-"_

"Bye!"  
He cheerfully ended the call and parked his motorcycle close to Hinata's house. He hung his helmet on the seats and grinned at Hinata as he stood next to her.

"Well, guess I'll just stay with you tonight until Kurenai and Asuma come home; I can't leave a person like you home all alone now can I?"  
Hinata was lost for words as Naruto took her wrist and laughed; pulling her gently to the front of the house he beckoned for her to open the door.

"Come on now, let's get inside. Don't worry; I don't snore too loud if that's what's eating you."

* * *

Kakashi gazed off into the night sky while smoking infrequently to blow puffs of ash into the lazy black sky. Having completed a day's worth of work, Kakashi escaped to the roofs of the Hyuuga building; stories high off the ground he leaned over the railing smoking in the high air with the strong night wind pulling at his shoulders, threatening to pull him over the edge …

A hand came out of nowhere and clasped Kakashi's shoulder. Kakashi jolted and stared at the person who smiled at him from behind.

"Yo Kakashi! What are you doing up here?"  
"Guy … don't creep up on me like that."

Guy laughed; he stood proudly next to Kakashi in his shameless green leotard amidst the cold winter wind. Kakashi turned to address him and Guy gave Kakashi the raised eyebrows, eyeing Kakashi and the cigarette as he asked amused, "Say … didn't you give up smoking years ago."  
"Hmm … I did?"  
Guy laughed; crossing his arms he rolled his eyes.

"Please, the only reason you gave up smoking was so you seemed more appealing to Rin."

Kakashi flustered as Guy grinned slyly.

"I'm right yes? You like the secretary or Hiashi Hyuuga's …"

"N-Nothing of the sort! Such foolishness …"

"Ha-ha! Even Kakashi Hatake has a lover!"

"She is not my lover. She should have been Obito's …"

Guy stopped once he noticed the sad, melancholy note in Kakashi's voice. He fell silent before replying, "You're still sulking over that … about what happened to Obito …"

Kakashi sighed; he stepped on his cigarette and took a deep breath in clean night air.

"How can I not? Obito was a friend … comrade and an excellent partner … but then that one night … if only I tried harder … Obito would still be here."

Guy patted Kakashi sympathetically on the back.

"Now now Kakashi, it wasn't your fault that what happened to Obito … happened."

Kakashi stared off into the night sky and sighed back, "I wonder sometimes Guy, if Obito would've ever forgiven me … for what I let happen to him …"  
Guy sighed, shaking his head he shrugged.

"Kakashi, a simple minded man like me cannot know what you had to go through with Obito. I only hold the facts; but you hold the story. I'm sure depending on how it all happened, that Obito would've forgiven you if he were still alive …"  
Kakashi stared at the bright moon above them as he whispered, "No … no he wouldn't have had. " He hung his head and sighed, closing his eyes he murmured unheard, "Looking back at the facts and remembering the story … he would've never forgiven me."

* * *

**Yeah, so it started to get really long and excessive for a chapter and so I ended it where Kakashi is remembering a painful past. Hope you guys enjoyed it, leave a few comments in the reviews, take the polls on my profile page, and look forward to February 14th - maybe a few short stories will come out for that day! :3 Specially for you guys! Anyway, I appreciate you all, I hope you continue to read my story and many more to come! Thanks everyone! See you guys in the next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8: News only for You

**My message to you readers: Happy Valentine's Day! XD I worked hard to get this out and it's extremely long, sorry about that. I don't know if you like it long or not, but here it is - chapter 8! **

**I'd like to thank CarolinaEirasSa for helping me with an error in one of the previous chapters, so my shoutout to you! ;) You helped me, thank you very much!**

**But not only to her, thank you to everyone who has reviewed and supported this story and others! Thank you so much and I hope this chapter makes you happy. **

**Now I know someone reviewed about this story not being centered Hinata entirely. I understand, it should be more centered about Hinata and for a while I was focused on Naruto and his side of the story. I'm still working on getting Hinata's drama into their gears so please be patient and wait for it in the next chapter(s) and so until then, please enjoy what I have currently. I'm getting to that point so be anticipating for it! :) **

**Hinata will face her drama soon, so those who are itching for some real drama, please be patient. I'll probably start elaborating on Hinata's situation by the next chapter, so look forward to Chapter 9! Enjoy Chapter 8 while it's on it's way though! :)**

**(WARNING: There will be a part where you'll be like "Whoa..." maybe a smile or two, and maybe not. But whatever your reaction to that part is, I hope you don't find it awkward... I was trying to throw in an awkward NaruHina moment so... yeaaaaah... bear yourself for that moment when you come across it.)**

**If this chapter is poorly written, I apologize and yet I hope it was done well. Twenty two pages worth of text, I hope it's good. TwT I really do. So please, enjoy what you enjoy and criticize what needs to be criticized. I shall accept all criticism/feedback with open arms as long as it's not 100% hate comments. Thank you all for being so supportive and let me shut up now- **

* * *

**Chapter 8: News only for You**

Hinata didn't dare sleep tonight; Naruto was in the living room snoring and she was in her own room upstairs wide awake. She didn't feel comfortable enough to rest because Naruto was downstairs! Him of all people! Hinata reached up and over her head to where Little Fox (she had no other name better suited for the stuffed animal) sat, as she rested the large stuffed animal on her stomach while whispering to it while fiddling with its ears.

"Little Fox, I don't know what to do. Naruto is downstairs sleeping and I should be too, but since he's inside the house, I can't sleep knowing that he's down there. Little Fox …"

Hinata sighed as she hugged the stuffed animal.

"I think I might be in love with him …"

* * *

"What~!? What do you mean you forgot to invite us?!"

Kankuro crossed his arms frowning as he glared at his sister.

"Seriously guys?! You forget about us?!"

Temari nervously laughed, "Sorry Kankuro, we forgot …"  
"Eesh! Imagine all the fun it must've been! Gaara, I can't accept this, can you?!"

Gaara was leaning over the countertop in the kitchen as he drifted his gaze on his brother while biting into an apple.  
"I really don't care. To be honest, we didn't even have time for the Gang Night of Naruto's last night anyway. You and I were teaching a few punks a lesson don't you remember?"

Kankuro sighed, waving in the air dismissively.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know. But still! It could've been so fun …"

His sister sympathetically patted him on the back.

"Sorry brother, maybe next time."

"It's always next time …"  
Gaara took another bite before asking between chews, "Where's Naruto?"

Sasuke, who was lying across the couch with a magazine in his lap, retorted, "He's at a girl's house."

Kankuro choked on his own spit as Gaara raised his eyebrows at Sasuke's direction.  
"That's a joke right? Because I'm not seeing the humor behind this…"

Sasuke grumbled beneath his breath, "Believe it sand paper."

Kankuro coughed and choked as he rasped, "Holy sh*t! Naruto at a girl's house?! The world really HAS gone to sh*t! The day Naruto goes out with a girl will be the day I burn my puppets!"

Gaara rolled his eyes and muttered, "You and your puppets …"

Shikamaru came out of his room and yawned; rubbing his eyes he went to get a glass of water and sighed in relief afterwards. Then he came over to Temari and slid his arms around her waist while resting his chin on her shoulder, sighing in her ear.

"Mmmm … so tired …"

Temari looked between her brothers and her boyfriend and laughed nervously, "Ha-ha; Shikamaru? Can you get off me for a moment please?"  
"Why? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"  
"For the time being, yes."  
"Why?"  
She eyed Kankuro before hissing back, "My brothers are here …"

Sasuke, interested to see the display of affection between Shikamaru and Temari, had dropped his magazine a few inches to stare at how Shikamaru had casually stuck on to his girlfriend as Kankuro scowled at Shikamaru.

"Oi … Nara boy … get off my sister for a second why don't you?"

Shikamaru looked up and then took a wild step backwards from Temari, "Oh God; Kankuro!? And Gaara! It's uh, a surprise to see you guys here … visiting Temari?"  
Kankuro crossed his arms and glared at Shikamaru.

"Close enough. Gaara came here to talk to Naruto and I just came along so I could check on my sister."  
He narrowed his eyes at Shikamaru before hissing, "I'm going to guess you've been taking VERY good care of her?"  
Shikamaru laughed nervously, "Why are you looking at me as if I treated her like a mangy dog? Of course I have."

"… Nara, if I ever find out that you have mistreated my sister for even the slightest trivial issue, I WILL hunt you down, kill you, and break you to pieces. My sister is a treasure beyond all others; you tarnish her and I'll reconfigure your face."

Shikamaru and Temari nervously laughed, uncomfortable and intimidated by her brother who seethed with bottled murderous intents. Kiba suddenly bursted inside the house yelling on the top of his lungs, "GUYS! AKAMARU IS BACK! HE'S BACK AND HEALTHY!"

Inside loped a large dog barking and running around wildly. Kiba laughed happily as he watched his dog roam the familiar halls and rooms barking and licking the familiar faces before running in circles around Kiba.

Everyone surrounded Akamaru; adoring the dog and welcoming it back to the house – even Shino was fond enough of the dog to come over and pat him on the head – receiving a slobbery kiss from the dog.

Shikamaru, while fondling the dog's ears, asked Kiba, "So, when did he get better?"  
"Yesterday night; the vet proclaimed him healthy and Akamaru was literally bouncing off the walls. He was so excited to get back here- isn't that right my sweet little bow-wow?"  
Kiba crouched before his large dog and nuzzled the animal while rubbing the dog's neck, the dog barking before licking Kiba's face in a big happy kiss.

Sasuke threw the magazine over his head and scooted on the edge of the couch to avoid the barking dog, not wanting to be slobbered over as he shooed Akamaru away.

"You know, I really hope you're willing to clean up after your dog."  
Kiba frowned.

"What are you talking about? Akamaru takes care of his business outside of the house-"  
"I don't mean that. I mean cleaning up his dog hair; he sheds like a pound every day. I'm sick of breathing in his hair and eating it in my food – you better keep it under control or I'll make you put him outside."  
Kiba was about to snap but being too happy over his dog shrugged and laughed, "WELL I – you know what? Whatever, I don't want to mess with you today Uchiha. Fine then; I'll do as you ask. I'll keep him regularly brushed so he doesn't shed as often then. Just don't throw my dog a b*tchy attitude."  
Akamaru barked at Sasuke and he could swear the dog was laughing. Kiba hurried with his dog back outside to roam around and Gaara glanced at his watch and frowned.

"Now can someone please tell me when Naruto plans to get back? I have something to ask him…"  
Temari tried to read her brother's blank expression as she asked, "…uh, what do you need from him? If you tell Shikamaru about it; he can ask him and tell you later-"  
"I'd prefer to speak about the issues with Naruto myself."  
"Sure but, Naruto isn't going to get back soon considering he's at Hinata Hyuuga's house; you should just tell Shikamaru so he can-"  
"I don't wish to Temari; this only concerns me and Naruto as gang leaders,"  
He eyed his sister before muttering, "I'd rather have you guys have other things to worry about for now."

Shikamaru looked at Gaara and frowned, unsure what was so bad about the news that it was for Naruto's ears and Naruto's only.

'_Guess it's not my place to ask about it… I'll trust that Naruto will deal with it.'_

Shikamaru pulled out his phone while speaking to Gaara, "Well, if you can't wait, then how about I call him over right now?"  
Gaara nodded with a glint of appreciation in his eyes as he leaned over the counter with the apple hovering over his lips as he nodded, "Thank you Nara; that'll be much appreciated."

He bit into his apple again while looking away as Shikamaru dialed Naruto's number.

* * *

-_BZZT-BZZT-_

"Nyeh… shut up…"

-_BZZT-BZZT-_

Naruto groaned, rolling so that his back faced the living room table that his phone rested on, cuddling down in the couch cushions to drown out the noise of the vibrating call of his phone.

-_BZZT-BZZT-_

"For the love of God-"  
-_BZZT-BZZT-_

"F*CK!"

Naruto angrily got up and ran a frustrated hand through his messy hair, blinking blearily with sleep as he snatched his annoying phone and answered the darn call.

"WHAT THE H*LL DO YOU WANT?!"  
"_Well, how very kind of you to greet a good friend this way. You seem to have had a nice time at Hinata's place."  
_"I was actually; sleeping like an angel until you woke me up with your phone call!"

"_Sorry man, but it was necessary; I had to call you."_

Naruto frowned as his anger simmered as he sensed a slightly concerned tone in Shikamaru's voice; he ran a hand through his hair and sighed before asking, "Alright, alright, what do you need?"  
"_Gaara and Kankuro came over earlier this morning and they're asking for you – they want to talk to you."_

"What for? Did they say about what?"  
"_Not exactly."  
_"Ugh, it must be about repaying the loan I have to pay to Gaara-"  
"_Unfortunately Naruto, I think it's more than a pesky loan. Gaara needs to talk to you about something he's not willing to share with us; he wants only you to hear about it. A leader to leader talk; he wants only your ears."_

Naruto scratched his chin as he frowned with concern, when Gaara usually wanted to talk … it was something that unnerved Gaara; which was rare for him to be disturbed to reach out to Naruto for his help…

"Alright, I'll come over as soon as I can. Just let me make sure Hinata has someone in the house before I leave. Kurenai and Asuma left the house to Hinata all alone so I don't want to leave just yet."

There was a light laugh that crackled over his phone and Shikamaru replied slyly, "_Ah~, I see. I see. Then take your time; Gaara can wait as long as he has to until you get back, but yeah, try not to linger~ too long at Hinata's place."_

Naruto recognized the sing songy ring in Shikamaru's voice and blushed.

"Aw geez man…! You're not possibly thinking that I-"  
"_That you like her? Oh please Naruto; no boy is going to stay over at a girl's house just so he can make sure a molester or whatever rapes her. Even I didn't do this sort of stuff for Temari BEFORE I decided to date her."_

"I honestly don't like Hinata that way! Hinata is just a good person; there is no way that I'd ever consider-"  
"_Whatever Naruto; don't get on the defensive side, we all know your secret-"  
_"There is no secret to this! I don't-"  
"_AH~! So there IS no secret – so you're admitting that you like her?!"  
_"You're twisting my words Shikamaru-"  
"_Ha-ha! Just teasing with you man; but hey, if it ends up that you fall head over heels for the Hyuuga, just keep in mind, I'll be right behind you laughing and saying ' I told you so'."_

"Gee, you're such a good friend."  
"_I know I am. Anyway, just do what you gotta do and get your ass over here; Gaara can be impatient too you know, despite being as patient as he can be."_

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not dumb Shikamaru."

"_I seriously doubt that sometimes, but alright, I trust you. See you later man!"  
_"Bye."

He ended the call and dropped his phone at his side on the couch as he yawned and stretched his arms up and over his head. He rolled his neck around as he sighed in relief while he worked out the sore muscles and aching bones from sleeping on the couch on his side all night. He looked around and stood up, stuffing his phone in his back pocket before he forgot about it as he hiked up the stairs to Hinata's bedroom, wondering if she was awake.

"Hey Hinata! You awake? 'Cause I gotta go somewhere soon and I was wondering if you could call Kurenai or Asuma and ask them-"

Naruto rudely opened her bedroom door without knocking and stood there staring pale faced. (SERIOUS MISTAKE.)  
"Whoa…. Oops…"

Hinata looked up and screamed, she apparently had taken a shower and had just came out of the steaming bathroom; she had a towel wrapped around her naked body with her hair twisted in a separate towel to catch the water dripping around her face. Naruto found himself staring at her from her bare shoulders to her smooth calves – grateful for the towel that concealed most of her body – otherwise he'd probably get a severe case of nosebleeds …

Hinata grabbed the first thing next to her with one hand (the other clutching the hem of her towel close to her chest to keep the towel from slipping away) while screaming and chucking the tissue box in her hand at Naruto's head.

"EEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKK! GET OUT, OUT, OUT, OUT-"  
"Whoa! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, I forgot to knock! I'm sorry, my mistake –WHOA! Stop throwing things! You just threw a stapler at me! Geez, HINATA! PUT THAT SHARP LOOKING RULER DOWN – SH*T!"

"GET **OUUUUUUUUUUUUT!**"

"OKAY! Okay, geez! Hold your fire chick!"

Naruto held out his hands as he quickly dove behind her door and shut it back quickly, hearing the dull thud of a dictionary slamming her door harmlessly. He sighed in relief as he leaned against her door and slid to the floor, an arm thrown over his eyes as a blush burned his cheeks.

"Oh geez …"

* * *

Hinata had never felt so violated in her life! See!? THIS was why she feared sleeping under the same roof with the opposite sex; things like THAT happened! Hinata had locked the door the moment Naruto left her room, stepping over the dictionary and other thrown items that she had carelessly thrown and sighed in relief now that the door was securely locked between her and Naruto.

'_Oh my God… just how much did he see?!'_

Hinata shook her head as she touched her burning cheeks – he had almost seen her naked! Well, she was, but she had a towel to conceal herself so she was at least soooo grateful for that. Hinata bit her lip as she hurried to get into her clothes, swearing to herself that she'd never be so mindless again to take a shower while a MALE visitor was in the house; especially someone such as Naruto. Hinata dreaded the moment she'd have to take the step out of her room. With every stroke of her brush through her wet tangled hair, she felt her stomach churn and twist as she stared at her bathroom mirror at her own horrified expression on how terribly awkward it would be to stand before Naruto after what he … glimpsed at. Hinata dropped her brush and slapped her red cheeks, gasping as she rocked back and forth on her heels murmuring comforting words to herself. Oh God, she was sooo embarrassed and stupid to have thought it would okay!

Hinata eventually found herself standing in front of her locked door; she pressed her ear curiously against the wooden frame and could hear almost nothing. She was about to unlock the door, her fingers playing with the lock when she froze to the sound of cloth shifting against the wood; Naruto sighed as he shifted from his spot, he was leaning against the door barely making a sound; probably listening to hear if Hinata was crying or freaking out. She bit her lip and took fast steps away from the door as if it was infectious. She instead paced her room relentlessly, trying to seek a positive, non-awkward way to address the situation. She spent a few moments retrieving the thrown items from her floor and replace them on her desk and upon her shelves, lingering by her things to scrape the dust off the spine of her books and rearrange her pencils at least a dozen times. What was she doing?! She couldn't stay cooped up in her room forever!

There was a knock on her door, as soft and polite as it could be, as Naruto faced the same dilemma.

"Hinata? Hinata I'm sorry; I didn't mean to freak you out and well… cause you any discomfort or anger. I just- I just forgot to knock … I'm just so used to barging in, maybe next time I'll learn, okay? So please, come out, and please … don't make this twice as awkward as it already is."

Hinata scrambled to her door and unlocked it with fumbling fingers. She drew open the door and let herself peek out at Naruto with one eye through the crack. Naruto was looking at her with a sad, shamed expression his face. Clearly he had seen his error and was shameful to point it out on himself. He hung his head and hid his blushing, embarrassed face from her seeking eyes.

"I'm sorry I violated you-"

"I-I'm sorry too!"

He blinked at her in surprise. She blinked in surprise at herself as well.

'_For what?'_

"Uh … for what?"  
She was astonished at how he could read her thoughts; it was almost frightening how it worked.

"Uh … well … it was my mistake for taking a shower in the first place; I should've known you would've gotten curious if I was awake or not and I didn't let you know beforehand that I was going to take a shower and well … things went downhill from there-"  
"Why would you be apologizing for something you have every right to do?"  
He frowned at her with a perplexity on his face as he scratched his head.

"This is where you live; this is where you take your showers anyway. Of course you'd feel like taking a shower – it's only natural. It's probably something you do every day, and with me being here and staying over the night probably wasn't a good idea since I just barged in so rudely when you were almost done …"

He blushed, his finger on his lips almost in a sad, pouty childish frown.

"…it's my fault for scaring you and seeing things I shouldn't have seen. I'm sorry; I wish I could burn that out of my head right now. It's an embarrassment more for you than it is for me…"

'_But d*mn … she had some pretty good legs- SH*T! No! THIS is why you don't hang around girls Naruto! Bad, bad, BAD NARUTO-'_

Hinata smiled at him shyly, finally she swung the door wide open and stood before Naruto with her hands clasped behind her back. He was relieved to discover that she was dressed in her clothes (um… of course? Why did he think otherwise…) which were her usual loose fitting casual everyday clothing – lavender jacket, navy pants. She shook her head and mumbled, "Oh Naruto, it's alright. I mean, mistakes happen all the time and… this was just a really bad mistake on your account and mine. Let's just instead forget about it and learn from this; agreed?"

He felt his eyes gravitating to her legs and he forced himself to keep his eyes on hers.

"Agreed."  
"Alright then, come downstairs, I'll make you some breakfast before you leave back to your friends-"  
"Ah, no, it's alright. I'll just go, don't go through so much trouble for me-"  
"Nonsense! You need to eat SOMETHING – at least a snack?"  
"Um… okay, I guess a snack will be fine…"

Hinata smiled before brushing past him to step down the stairs with feather light steps; he slugged after her, careful to keep his distance (why…?). He watched her from the kitchen counter as she rummaged the kitchen cabinets for a small snack for Naruto. He found himself leaning over and staring at her long hair that hung at her back, hanging just above her waist as she stood on her tiptoes to grab a bag of whole grain bars. He found his eyes on her legs again and he suddenly smacked his head against the counter, scaring both of them as he hissed in pain, rubbing the newfound sore on his forehead.  
"Um… are you okay…?"  
"Yeah, yeah, just fine…"  
She eyed him both with amusement and puzzlement as she slid him a whole grain bar.

"What happened?"  
"I uh, slipped from my hand, must've just… smacked my head against the marble countertop…"  
She laughed lightly; awkwardness weighing heavily down on the two as Naruto glumly peeled the wrapper away from the snack bar and nibbled silently on the edge of the bar. Hinata checked the clock and smiled, "Oh, well I guess its fine for you to leave now. Kurenai and Asuma will be here soon; last time they contacted me, they told me they'd come around eight in the morning anyway."

Naruto took another bite before looking up at the Hyuuga.

"… Just to be on the safe side, I wanna stay just a little longer until Kurenai and Asuma walk through the door themselves."

"…Alright then."

Then he hung his head again and silently ate the rest of his snack as Hinata stood behind the kitchen countertop with her hands hidden from view as she twisted them together in awkward silence.

'_Urgh… the embarrassment never leaves!'_

* * *

The market down by the harbored port was busy as it was every day; but today was rather unusual. The suburb citizens looked up in surprise to hear the quiet roar of a car pulling at the edge of the market place in a quiet hiss of tires on the roughly paved road. The door opened and an agent clad in black stepped out as he hurried to escort his upper man out of the car. The man swiped his eyes across the suburb marketplace, feeling the eyes of the curious poor folk as he sighed.

"Ah, life in the suburbs; I remembered when I was a little boy and I grew up with my grandmother in a place like this."

He turned his head to the agent behind him and a laughed.

"Can you smell it?! The sea, the fresh fish – and look at the people here!"  
The agent coughed, a hand to his mouth as he grumbled, "Yes, true, however I prefer to stick to more civilized, urban areas. This rural countryside with the ocean at its side is nauseating for a man like me. And the stench of fish …"  
The man shivered.

"I hate fish … and I hate deep waters … and the people here are a bit-"  
The man slapped his agent on the backside, laughing thinly with a hint of aggression behind his words, "What are you talking about now chap?! This place is beautiful!"  
The agent recognized the edge in his voice and immediately bowed his head low and retorted, "Yes, yes it is. Sorry I said anything."  
The steel edge to the man's voice lifted as he gave the agent a genuine smile.

"What are you apologizing for? All is well."  
"Thank you … Iruka sir."

Iruka turned his head back to the marketplace and stretched his hands over his head and sighed. He loosened the tie at his throat and smiled at his agent.

"Now, take care of the car will you? Make sure a few rowdy boys don't decide to take a sweet ride in it. Remember; this is the company's, not mine."  
"Of course Iruka sir, of course."  
"You're a good man; how long was it since you've been recruited?"  
The man bowed his head, "Only for about three months so far, sir."  
"Really now? Wow, you're one heck of an agent so far."  
He patted him on the back and smiled.

"Keep up the good work; hopefully you won't cross paths with the Ex-Heiress like my last agent did."  
Iruka sighed as he shook his head, "Couldn't help the poor man; the little brat- *ahem* - Mistress Hanabi had him fired off the bat because he parked my car in front of hers. Such a shame; he was a good man."  
The agent nodded slowly next to Iruka who smiled at him sadly.

"It really was a shame; he had been working for the company for nearly forty years; regular high pay, his job the only job in his family keeping them alive and happy. Generations worth of effort being in the Hyuuga work force; but then Miss. Hanabi kicked him out – you can imagine how that poor man is fairing now."  
Iruka crossed his arms bitterly as he hissed quietly to himself, "Working in a car wash…"  
"Sir? Did you say something?"  
"Ah, no, nothing at all. You just stay here and watch the car; you can sleep or listen to the radio for a little while. I won't take long, I promise."  
His agent respectfully bowed and replied, "Please sir, take your time."  
"I will, I will. Now you spend your time preciously."  
"I will sir, please, go on and let me no longer be in the way of your work here sir."  
"Yes, yes, alright then, I'll be going now, see you in a few minutes!"

The agent bowed silently as Iruka strolled away, whistling a merry tune as he walked past the staring simple folk who eyed his tailored suit and polished shoes; a few snorted and turned their eyes away with contempt, others hungrily stared at him as if they could sell him in a pawnshop for big cash, and the rest enviously narrowed their eyes at him – whispering about why a man like him would be down here in the poor suburbs. To be honest, Iruka wasn't sure himself. However he was asked by Kakashi to come down and ask around; Kakashi was busy with the publicity concerning the Heiress title being stripped from Hanabi, and so now he was here to ask a few questions about Hinata Hyuuga.

He also came in hopes that maybe he'd come across his past students; he used to be a teacher before he became an agent of the Hyuuga Company. He had personally taught and tutored Naruto and the boys in his later years as teacher before the school closed down and Naruto and his friends decided to spend the rest of their lives half educated as gangsters. Naturally, Iruka hadn't approved of that; but Iruka had nothing else to offer and ever since the school closed down, he lost contact with the boys. He never saw them again. But Kakashi had found them again, it would only be a matter of time before he could go visit them soon enough.

Iruka wandered the streets of the marketplace and consciously kept a hand at his wallet – he knew all too well the tricky fingers of the no-good rascals in these parts; he himself was one and always used to do it when he lived with his grandmother in a poor suburb. Iruka came across a few woman selling fish and oysters, asking curiously about any recent gangs or moved in citizens in the past five years or so.

A thirty year old fisher wife scratched her chin, her eyes screwed up in thought as her limp hair started having streaks of white in the dull brown strands.

"Eh, if memory serves, a lot of people have moved in AND out of these parts. Not any specifics comes to my mind, but I do know about a regular gang that hangs around here sometimes."  
Iruka excitedly leaned forward, "Really?! Do you know their names? Where they are right now?"

The old woman shrugged.

"Sorry, but I don't know much about them. Nobody does. We only know them because they keep trouble off the streets and clean up the messes other terribly gangs wrought among us; all I know is that they're good boys…"

'_That's a relief; at least the boys are being kind and respectful as ever…'_

"Well, do you have any idea of anyone I could ask these questions to and get a definite answer from?"  
The old woman nodded with a small smile on her face as she held out a finger as if to make a point, "Ah, try old lady Chikako! She's always has a sharp mind, a memory of an elephant to fill up an entire library! She should be on the other side of the marketplace selling her fruits."

She smiled yet still, "Just look for a senile appearing old woman with silvery hair; you can't miss her."

Iruka thanked the fisher wife and hurried along his way to find this 'Chikako'. He asked along the way, received a muddled handful of confusing directions and he finally found the stand he was looking for merely by chance.

"Now where is it…?"

He looked around, making sure he had taken the right directions the last man had told him, and suddenly he heard loud yells of a screeching grandma, "D*MN YOU LITTLE RASCALS! YOU COME NEAR MY WATERMELONS AGAIN AND I'LL BASH YOUR BRAINS IN! TOUCH MY APPLES I'LL TEAR YOUR THROATS OUT! EAT MY ORANGES AND I'LL SQUEEZE THEM IN YOUR EYES! **DON'T TOUCH MY FRUIT STAND YOU DIRTY BRATS!**"

Surprisingly, an old woman successfully drove away a horde of rowdy pranksters from her fruit stand, brandishing a fruit knife that was still dripping in what appeared to be apple juices. When she scared them off, she snorted in contempt and stormed back to her seat behind her baskets of fruits, muttering to herself as she continued peeling and cutting her apples. Iruka approached her almost instantly.

"Hello ma'am, may I ask you a few questions?"  
The grandma looked up at Iruka and her eyes narrowed at his suit, then she stabbed her apple with a violent jerk of her arm and spat, "Go on and spit it boy; this old grandma has work to catch up with."

Iruka bowed respectfully as he began, "Hello then, my name is Iruka Umino; I'm here asking around for about a few past students of mine and a missing mistress. Can I ask you if you've seen a gang of young men around here lately?"  
The old grandma snorted, "What makes you think a senile woman like me would remember?"  
"I asked around and apparently you're quite famous among the other market sellers."

"Ha! Famous my butt! They're just kissing up to me since the last time someone smart mouthed me I strapped him down and rubbed lemons in his eyes and tongue – they don't want THAT to happen to them. That's why they're just spouting about how famous I am. Ha! More like how INFAMOUS I am."  
"I don't believe that's the case; this woman who spoke to me spoke kindly of you."  
"Was she a fisher wife?"  
"Yes…"  
"Rumi is a good woman; a good heart and honest opinions. She's one of the good ones; now the OTHER sh*ts around here who talk behind my tired old back …"  
The fruit knife in her hand twirled menacingly in her hands as she glared around her like someone would jump out and try to attack her.

"They think my old bat ears can't hear; but I hear like a hawk, I see like an eagle, I strike like a snake-"  
"Yes, yes, but ma'am, I asked if you seen a gang around here – not about how infamous you were."  
Grandma Chikako narrowed her eyes at Iruka before laughing and stabbing the cutting board between her knees with her fruit knife.

"Heh, I like boys like you – always asking to get to the point. Alright now, you wanna know? Well, there has been numerous gangs here recently; new and old. Now which ones are you looking for?"  
"Have you perhaps heard of anyone named Naruto?"  
The old woman crinkled her nose.

"Naruto? Are you talking about something related to ramen? No, I haven't."  
Iruka laughed, shaking his head he tried again, "Ah no, no not ramen. Just a rather interesting young man who goes by the name Naruto."  
Grandma Chikako shook her head again, "Nope. Never heard of him."  
Iruka sighed as the grandma quickly added, "However… I have seen an interesting group of young men who always keep the suburbs safe from ruffians and thugs. Good young men; but their ring leader seems to be very interesting and different than most boys I've seen around here as gangsters…"  
"Can you describe him?"  
"Hmm, blond hair, whisker scars, blue eyes and he always wears orange, yellow, or black every single day. His trademark colors if you ask me."  
She waggled her finger as she added, "But don't let his innocent appearance fool you; no, not even his pleasant manners. If you piss him off or scare or disturb the public; he'll unleash the demon within him – we call him 'Demon Fox'."

Iruka sighed, shaking his head while he chuckled, "Oh that boy, that's him alright. Naruto Uzumaki."

The grandma's eyes flashed for a moment before returning back to its suspicious glare.

"Hmm, why do you need to see these fine boys… are you with the police? Because I assure you, they've done nothing wrong…"  
"Me? No, no, please don't be mistakened. I used to be these boys' teacher; it's been so long since I last met them and I wanted to see them again, that's all."

The grandma stroked her chin as if she was an old man and muttered, "I see…"

Iruka pulled out a notepad and began asking his other question, "Now that that's out of the way, can you answer a few questions about a certain missing person?"  
The grandma raised her eyebrows at Iruka.

"If you're thinking a crazy bat woman like me kidnapped anyone, you're dreadfully mistakened sir-"  
"No, no, I don't believe you've kidnapped anyone at all. Simply someone you met that might help me with this case."  
The grandma narrowed her eyes as she stared at him.

"Are you working with a detective?"  
"Uh, an ex-detective…"  
"Hmm…"  
She crossed her arms and set aside her cutting board and knife before asking, "Go ahead, ask. Maybe I'll answer."

"Do you perhaps know anyone named Hinata Hyuuga?"  
There was no reaction from the grandma as she frowned and put on a convincing act, "Who?"  
"Hinata Hyuuga; runaway heiress to the Hyuuga Company, she should be twenty one by now, young, beautiful, lovely, mannerly – anyone like that around here in the past five years or so?"

The grandma laughed. She kept laughing and laughing until Iruka had to ask uncomfortably, "Uh… ma'am? Is there something that amuses you…?"  
"Sorry old boy; it just makes me laugh to think that you really think a rich, fine young lady as you describe this Hinata Hyuuga to be, would come down here to live alone? I don't think so; never heard of any new comers in the past five years to have ever been anything near to what you described."

Iruka disappointedly stuffed his notepad away and sighed, "So, you don't know Hinata Hyuuga?"  
"Of course not! An old woman like me knowing about stuff like that? You have better chances talking to sewer rats about what the sky is like!"

She shook her head, "Foolish young men… always asking the wrong people the wrong questions…"

She narrowed her eyes at him before asking, "Besides, why do you need to know about her?"  
"Haven't you heard? Hiashi Hyuuga has re-announced Hinata Hyuuga as his proper and rightful heiress to the Hyuuga Company; he wants her to come back to the family and take on the role as heiress."

"I see…"

"Anyway, I apologize for wasting your time with my bothersome questions; I thank you for your help and cooperation ma'am."  
The woman nodded, waving her hand dismissively in the air as she ordered sharply,"Yes, yes, I accept your apology. Now shoo-shoo, I have work to do because those rowdy group of little b*tches messed with my fruit stand and pushed my schedule back a few good minutes. Hope you find those you need to find and be on your way sir; have a good day."

Grandma Chikako tossed Iruka a peeled apple and resumed chopping her other apples. He held the apple in his hand in surprise and walked back to his car biting into the sweet fruit, unsure how to react to the generosity of the crazy old woman. But nonetheless, as Iruka walked back to his car, he smiled to himself saying, "That old woman… reminds me of my own grandma in the past."

Grandma Chikako watched Iruka disappear in the crowds and pulled out her phone instantly (how she has a phone is incredible – imagine how much money she saved for it and still does to pay bills) to dial Kurenai's number.

"_Hello? Grandma Chikako, is this you?"  
_"Yes, yes dear, it's me. Listen, I have something to tell you about Hinata…"

* * *

Naruto waited with Hinata… and waited… and waited…

He bounced his leg nervously and restlessly beneath the table as he muttered to himself inaudible words as he nervously gave Hinata glances every now and then. However she was engrossing herself in her own work in writing a book than to notice the glimpses he gave her. Sometimes, if he stared at her long enough, his leg would stop bouncing and he'd find himself engrossed in just STARING at her. But sometimes she'd notice the soft thump of his feet hitting against the tiled kitchen stop and she'd look up – which then he'd avert his gaze as if he'd been squinting at the clock. God, why was he acting this way? He linked his fingers together beneath the table, his leg still bouncing around like he had to go pee (which he didn't since he already went - twice) and yet still, the minute hand on the clock didn't seem to move an inch faster.

'_Come on… come on! Kurenai, Asuma; someone! Hurry and come so that I can go and flounder in my own shame in my own house!'_

The memory of Hinata's near to naked form was embedded in his mind like a branding iron; it stung and burned in his mind so fresh, he could practically still smell the lavender soap she used… he was disgusting himself.

He sighed and sprawled his arms over the table, tapping relentlessly at the edge of her glass cup to entertain himself somewhat as Hinata stopped typing on her laptop. She graciously looked up and turned back to her computer to save her work before turning it off. She pushed her laptop to the side, rubbed her eyes, and smiled at Naruto as she sighed in return.

"Are you bored…?"  
"Yeah, kind of…"  
"Wanna play a game?"

Naruto brightened, always having a childish love for any kind of game, and he sat up in his chair alert and excited as he asked with curious eyes, "Sure! What do you wanna play?"

Hinata smiled and scratched her cheek embarrassed with herself as she mumbled, "To be honest, I don't know much about games because I was raised up without friends or anything and so I never knew what games, toys, and fun was. So… if you have a game we can play, I'll be happy to learn-"  
"What?! You never EVER had fun?!"  
She shook her head.

"Not a single doll?"  
"The first one I ever received was the one you gave me."  
"Not even a toy?!"  
"No… my 'toys' was flashcards…"

"You didn't even play videogames or anything that was… I don't know… fun for kids at the time?"

Hinata sadly smiled and shook her head, laughing nervously as she admitted, "I know, it sounds bizarre right? But my father was like that; he never believed in toys, games, and fun. He only believed in success, learning, and strict teaching; my toys were flashcards, my games homework assignments, and fun was only when I got to do my favorite subject; writing…"

Naruto took Hinata's hands in his and sadly sighed, "See? This is why your life is sadder than them all…"  
"I wouldn't say that; I've seen worse cases than me."  
"Like what?"  
"Kids who never get to have toys, games, or even a little bit of fun. Broken families with ruined families, forced to drop out of school at a very early age, working at a young age, never having time for themselves to have fun or rest."  
Hinata shook her head.

"Those are the saddest."  
"Your story is too; how you were raised? That's just …sad."  
"Don't feel any pity for my previous life Naruto; I was raised well. I was well educated, I was loved, and I was taken care of. I was born in a rich family with famous parents and servants doing everything for me since I could talk. I was spoiled; I'm surprised I haven't become a selfish brat in the end…"  
Naruto ran his thumbs over her knuckles, not at all surprised to find her skin smooth and like silk to the touch…

"You would never be tagged as a selfish brat. Never."

"Thank you. But if I had been spoiled to such an extent it got into my head; I wouldn't be here right now."  
She sighed, staring at the wooden table as she muttered, "I'd still be at my house lavishing myself in the luxuries that my life had to offer as a Hyuuga and probably ruin my own life…"

"Are you glad you left?"  
She smiled at him.

"Oh, indefinitely; anyway, enough about me, let's just play a game to pass the time."  
She smiled at him as she asked, "Know any games you personally like…?"  
He stared at her bright lavender eyes and felt his mouth go dry; again, why was he reacting this way…?

"Uh… um …"

'_Think fast!'_

"Uh- thumb war!"  
She blinked at him with a smile of curiosity and perplexity.

"Eh?"

"Thumb war."  
"Thumb war…? Does that mean our thumbs like, fight to the death or something…?"  
He cracked a smile, his awkward moment melting away as he laughed freely.

"Silly, of course not; thumb war is a game where- here; I can explain it better when I do it. Give me your hand."

She eyed him with a hint of suspicion and a twinge of worry that he'd like, snap her thumb or something as she cautiously handed over her hand. He slipped his fingers in hers and had her curl her hand around his so that their thumbs faced each other.

"So the basic point of the game is to grab the opponent's thumb with your own thumb and pin it down to the center; so like, a wrestling match. Only, this is with our thumbs."  
He pointed out a few other rules and she nodded, soaking it in like a sponge as she smiled, "Okay! I got it, I'm ready!"  
"Alright, 1, 2, 3, - GO!"

* * *

Naruto didn't quite remember how long he sat there playing these childish games with Hinata; Naruto won most of their games, but Hinata caught on quickly and served as a formidable opponent in a game of poker (surprisingly despite her innocent nature) as she nearly won the entire game. Hours must've passed because his phone rang in a loud irritable bleat of ringing and he sheepishly smiled at Hinata and held up a hand, "Hold on okay? I gotta get this…"  
Hinata smiled and put down her cards, nodding silently as she watched Naruto turn around in his seat and bring his phone up to his ear, crouching low with a quiet voice like he was being spied on.

"Hello?"  
"_GOD D*MN IT NARUTO – WHAT DID IT TELL YOU?!"_

Naruto winced; he pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at Hinata while mouthing 'ow' to her with a finger in his ear. She giggled and slapped her hands over her mouth as she watched Naruto resume talking with the angry caller.

"Come on now Shikamaru, I said I had to stay until Kurenai and Asuma came to be with Hinata-"  
"_DUDE! GAARA IS __**PISSSED **__RIGHT NOW! HE'S BEEN WAITING FIVE F*CKING HOURS FOR YOU TO COME OVER AND HE'S STARTING TO GET BORED PLAYING POKER ALL DAY – YOU BETTER GET YOUR LAZY *SS BACK HERE OR I'M GOING TO-"_

Naruto clamped a hand over his phone, trying to drown out the string of profanity that Shikamaru cursed at him. He gave Hinata an apologetic look as she paled slightly, recognizing a few words herself.

"Whoa now boy, take it easy there; Hinata can hear you screaming over the phone and you cussing isn't helping –"  
There was a muffled yelp and someone took over the phone on the other end; Shikamaru's voice was replaced with Neji's.

"_Naruto? Listen; is my cousin there with you?"_

"…Yes."  
"_And is it correct that you stayed over the night with her to make sure she wasn't alone the entire night in an unguarded house?"  
_"Yeah, pretty much."

There was dead silence and Neji's voice came back like nails and glass shards thrown in a blender, "_If you did anything to my cousin, I swear Uzumaki, I will-"  
"NEJI! GIVE ME BACK MY PHONE-"_

"_-tear out your entrails and feed it to Akamaru."_

"_NEJI! PHONE BACK, __**NOW!**__"  
"You might wanna come back home now man; Shikamaru is going to blow a fuse if you stay there mooning over my cousin-"  
_"H-Hey now! I'm not, since when did-"  
"_**NARUTO UZUMAKI- IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR *SS BACK HERE IN LESS THAN TWENTY MINUTES, KISS IT GOOD-BYE; BECAUSE IMMA GONNA #$%&-+*& $#%-"**_

"_Hurry back Naruto; give my cousin my regards. Chao."_

Naruto sighed as he heard the phone hung up on him. He turned back in his seat toward Hinata and grumbled, "Sorry, Shikamaru is just being a dickhead."

Hinata shook her head, smiling slightly as she replied, "Oh no, it's fine. He has every right to be mad; I'm keeping you from going to meet an important friend of yours-"  
"No, he doesn't. He's practically asking me to just leave you here without anyone in the house to protect you if a molester or a robber breaks in; now I don't need to explain what happens when those kind of bad people break in…"  
He smiled at Hinata sheepishly, "Especially since you're really pretty, most guys would…"  
She pinked and he flustered, "H-Hey! I'm not implying anything, okay?! I'm just saying, boys out there would see you as pretty and want to do stuff; not that I DON'T think you're pretty- you are, I'm just not interested in relationships- oh God, what am I saying?!"

He hid his face in his hands embarrassed, expecting Hinata to be irked about his fluster when he heard her laugh. A clear ringing singing voice that made him melt inside out.

He peeked through his fingers and saw her laugh brilliantly; her smile big and wide and her hand to her lips as if to swipe away the smile from view. He stared at her, wondering how the hell she was human when she had the laughter of an angel.

"Oh Naruto, you're such a flatterer! Honestly now, I don't think a molester or robber would barge in here poking around for anything; this house has the latest security, and even if they get inside…"  
She shrugged.

"I don't know; I guess I could grab a frying pan from the kitchen and use it."

"Yeah, but what if they have a gun or a knife?"  
She smiled at him like he was a silly child asking silly questions, "All the more reason why to use whatever I have; it's pointless to have a powerful weapon if you're not fast. You can bring down a man with a gun if you're faster to reach him before he reaches you."  
He stared at her as he asked, "Wow, you sound a little knowledgeable on certain skills…"

She flustered and muttered to herself, "I-I had a little… experience with that."

He opened his mouth to ask about it when the door slammed open. Naruto leaped up, ready to fight if some robber or molester entered and he relaxed upon seeing the faces of Kurenai and Asuma.

"Oh, Kurenai, Asuma, so glad you're back. I hope you don't mind, I stayed over the night to make sure Hinata was safe-"  
Kurenai grabbed Naruto in a hug and sobbed, "Oh thank God you did; THANK GOD YOU DID!"

He frowned at her and looked over at Asuma whose face was pale as ash.

"Uh… why?"  
"Thank you Naruto, thank you, but unfortunately I can't tell you why."  
Kurenai turned to look at Hinata and added with emphasized words, "That's a reason for only Hinata's ears to hear."

Hinata blinked and straightened in her seat. She worryingly glanced between Asuma and Kurenai as Naruto awkwardly stood to one side asking, "Uh, alright then. I guess this is my cue to… leave yes?"  
Kurenai nodded, smiling at him sadly as she embraced him again.

"Yes, I'm sorry, but I'll have to thank you some other time in some other way. I have to discuss something with Hinata that is VERY important; thank you so much for being with Hinata. Thank you…"  
Then she ruffled Naruto's hair and grinned, "Now run along Little Fox, I hear from Shikamaru when he was talking with Asuma on their phones, that you were being a naughty boy for not going back home soon enough. You better get there now before he chases you down and runs you over by a truck."

Naruto laughs, he apologized for his intrusion for staying over the night without them knowing and waved at Hinata smiling, "Alright then, see you next time Hinata!"

Hinata smiled and waved back, a bit shy as Kurenai and Asuma eyed the two with a sly smile creeping on their lips.

"B-Bye…"

Hinata walked Naruto to the front door and exchanged a few last words.

"You sure you didn't want to eat anything else…?"  
"I'm fine Hinata. Playing a few games is far better than eating breakfast."

Hinata laughed, shaking her head as she replied, "I don't know how playing games and eating breakfast relate to one another, but alright…"

Naruto smiled and brushed a stray strand of hair from Hinata's face behind her ear. He slid his hand to her chin and leaned towards her smiling.

"Hinata, you should know by now that I myself don't make sense sometimes."  
Hinata was self conscious of his hand on her face and she smiled back, "Of course I know…"  
"You take care of yourself. I might not see you in a while."  
Naruto dropped his hand and looked up at a smiling Kurenai and Asuma and smiled back (why were they smiling…?), "Take care of Hinata please? I'd hate for her to take on things by herself…"

Kurenai smiled wider, waving her hand as she shooed him away, "Who you talking to boy?! I'm Kurenai Yūhi; never in a million years would I let anything happen to Hinata. You go back to your friends without a single worry; I take care of her as if she was my own daughter."  
Asuma smiled, cigarette in his mouth unlit as he added, "Don't you worry about anything Naruto; Hinata is safe with us all the time. Especially with Kurenai here; worse than a tiger in a cage if you ask me."  
"Hey! Asuma, you just keep quiet!"

Asuma smiled again, laughing as he pointed his unlit cigar at Kurenai.

"See what I mean?"  
"Very."  
"Oi! Both of you; shut up! Now Little Fox, you go on now, don't be worried about Hinata; she'll be safe now that we're here."

Naruto smiled, nodded and spoke, "Alright then, I'll be leaving now, good-bye!"

He waved cheerfully as he turned to walk to his motorcycle. Kurenai and Asuma stood with Hinata as she waved good-bye to him as he drove away – a streak of yellow across the gray asphalt on the road…

Hinata sighed and Kurenai giggled behind her.

"See, Asuma, see?! What did I tell you now!?"  
Kurenai laughed, punching her husband's shoulder as she pointed at Hinata with a smug grin.

"Did I not tell you that Hinata was falling in love with Naruto?"  
"K-Kurenai, now that's not true-"  
"I stand corrected…"  
Asuma lit his cigarette and breathed out a puff of ash, "It would seem that Hinata is getting rather fond of Naruto…"  
"Asuma!"

"See, see!? And you told me that I WAS crazy!"

"Kurenai!"

Hinata pleaded to the two, "Please, don't embarrass me!"  
Kurenai laughed and patted Hinata on the back.

"Hey now, you should NEVER be embarrassed! Be in love in pride; let it shine!"

Asuma smiled and kissed his wife on the cheek.

"Such beautiful words for a beautiful soul; what would my life be without you?"  
Kurenai smiled and Hinata flustered.

"I-I'm not in love with Naruto-!"  
"Tsk, tsk! You denying it is unhealthy for you!"  
"What does this have to do anything about my health-?!"  
"Hinata, just admit it. You like him."  
"I-I do, b-but not like, love-love…"

"Say what you will. Anyway, besides Naruto…"  
Kurenai shot her husband a worried look and rubbed her arms self consciously.

"We need to talk about what we came across while we were on our way back; this concerns you and you only Hinata."

Hinata blinked and tried to read the emotionless expressions on their faces; blank and grim.

"…What is it about?"  
"Get inside; it'd be safer talking inside without any eavesdropping ears tuning in. Let's get this said and explained short and sweet."

* * *

Gaara sourly put down his cards and growled, "Okay, that's the twelfth time you won today Shikamaru; I don't feel like playing ANY more games with you."  
Shikamaru blinked, his cards slowly going to the table as he sighed, "Sorry, I'm just a good player with most games…"  
Temari laughed, slipping her hand under the table on his knee lovingly, "Oh Shikamaru, master of all games!"

Gaara sighed, rolled his eyes, and grumbled to himself as his sister mooned over her boyfriend, "Good grief…"

The door opened and the three turned to see Naruto shuffling inside, he hissed behind the collar of his jacket whining, "Geez! When did it get so cold guys?! I'm freezing-!"

"**UZUMAKI!"**

Shikamaru leaped over the table and tackled Naruto to the ground, causing him to yelp in surprise as Shikamaru grabbed Naruto by the collar of his jacket and shook him around like a mad man; his brains as good as scrambled eggs.

"**WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF HINATA'S HOUSE SO YOU COULD MEET GAARA; YOU'VE PISSED HIM OFF AND YOU'VE PISSED ME OFF-"**

"Sweetie? Be so kind and get off Naruto; it looks a REALLY weird with you on top of him like that…"  
Temari added unnecessary stress on her words as Shikamaru registered her words; he growled and stepped off Naruto, the blond lying there staring at the ceiling as he regathered his senses.

"Ugh… Shikamaru – you've killed my brain…"

Shikamaru snapped back at him as he took back his spot next to Temari.

"Well good! Maybe THAT'LL teach you a lesson-"  
"Can I speak with Naruto now?"  
Gaara stacked his cards and handed them back to Temari to put with the rest.

"I think I've played enough poker to last a lifetime waiting for Naruto."  
Naruto crawled to the table and sighed, the four sat awkwardly there as Gaara narrowed his eyes at the couple.

"A-hem. Perhaps I didn't clarify; may I speak with Naruto ALONE now?"  
Shikamaru frowned and Temari stood, hand at her boyfriend's arm as she urged him to his feet.

"Come on, Gaara doesn't have much time left to spare; let the two talk."  
"I know Temari; it's just-"  
"Please? Let's just get back to our room…"

"Fine, fine."  
Shikamaru nodded to Naruto who shrugged back, knowing all too well what Shikamaru wanted from him.

'_If it's serious, you've gotta tell me man.'_

'_Let me handle this Nara, you just go to your room like your girlfriend tells you like a good little boy.'_

Naruto cracked smile as Temari half dragged and half walked her boyfriend into their room, closing the door behind him as Gaara was left with Naruto in complete silence. Naruto looked around and frowned.

"Say, where is everyone else?"  
Gaara jerked a thumb towards the hallway leading to the other rooms, "Well my brother Kankuro is with Kiba, Lee, Shino, and Choji playing some sort of a competitive video game; and Sasuke is with Neji doing some research into some kind of document you guys stole? Yeah, like the uh, Akatsuki folder or whatever…?"  
Naruto remembered back when he and his friends broke into a black market secret post to confront Kabuto; where they had successfully stolen a detailed folder about the Akatsuki members and their activities. It was incredibly rare to have even gotten that after he got shot during the process.

"Ah that…"  
"How'd you get that anyway?"  
"Long story man, but if you want a visual…"  
Naruto unzipped his jacket and shrugged it off at the shoulders; he pulled up the hem of his jacket and showed Gaara the stitches in his chest where they had performed surgery upon him. Gaara stared and sighed, "The things you get yourself into Naruto… I'm surprised you're still alive. How bad was it?"  
Naruto pulled his shirt back down and zipped up his jacket back to his throat.

"It was one of my worst moments I guess; clean shot to the chest."  
He shook his head.

"Never again am I going to try and take on a psychopathic killer/drug dealer who has a f*cking gun, unarmed."

"How stupid can you get…?"  
Naruto irked at his comment and Gaara shook his head.

"Never mind, anyway, I didn't come here to play catch up…"

Gaara tapped the table with restless fingers as he murmured in a low whisper, "…I've learned a little something about … your parents' deaths."

Naruto stared at Gaara as he kept his gaze; silence cut through the room like a silent assassin's blade.

"…my parents?"  
"Yeah, your parents."  
"…you sure you weren't mistaken?"  
"Why would you think I'd mishear or take misled information?"  
"Because…"  
Naruto lowered his eyes and added in a lower voice full of sadness and grief, "…I was there when they were killed."

Gaara solemnly kept his eyes on the table, unwilling to look at the grief stricken expression on his friend's face and simply retorted, "Of course you know. You were there yourself; how could you forget the death of your parents? But remembered what you told me… about how your parents died?"  
Naruto raised his eyebrows and Gaara shook his head, "You told me that a killer came in the house intent on killing all the lives of the Uzumaki bloodline. A single man, who killed both your parents. He tried to kill you but not before you killed him first – the first man you killed…"  
Naruto stared at his hands, wondering if there was unseen blood on his hands, the unseen blood only the eyes of God could see… the blood of the man he killed…

"I don't mean to alarm you or anything Naruto, especially since you and your gang are busy hunting down the Akatsuki… but here's what I heard…"

Gaara drew Naruto's eyes back to his face and he clasped his hands in front of him, his eyes deep and penetrating as he cautiously spoke, "That man you killed…? Rumor has it; he's still alive."  
Naruto could swear he heard the clock on the wall stop for a few heartbeats, his blood running cold as he gasped softly. Gaara watched the blood drain from Naruto's face, the color in Naruto's eyes disappearing as he grew his eyes wider in surprise; lips slightly parted in a gasp.

"However this is a rumor; it could be just another hoax they're making up. But I don't think it's a hoax or a rumor…"  
Naruto swallowed and with trembling hands he asked softly, "…Who told you the rumor?"

Gaara sighed, his head tilted to one side as if he didn't want to have said it in the first place.

"…just words I heard from the black market. Words that could be from the lying mouths of black hearted fiends trying to stir fear among us. That man was a terrible man; no one dares to speak his name."  
Gaara reached out and gripped Naruto by his shoulder.

"I didn't come here to share a rumor with you; I came here with a warning for you my friend."  
His fingers tightened on Naruto's shoulder as he hissed quietly, "While you're working to find the Akatsuki and do whatever hell to them… for God's sake, watch your back Naruto. If these rumors are true, then you should also keep in mind that the rumors claim that killer is on the move…"  
"The move for what?"  
Gaara held Naruto's gaze before adding even quieter, "…he wants his revenge on you Naruto. He wants to finish what he started; he's hunting for you."

* * *

Hinata felt her hands and feet go numb; her face blanched as she breathed, "…wait, what?!"

Kurenai sighed, her hands on her husband's as she shot Asuma a worried look, "This is exactly how I feared you would respond."  
Hinata stood out of her chair, a little suddenly because she shook the table as her hands jutted out in front of her planted on the table firmly before her, "No, this is impossible! My father, he loves Hanabi! He made her heiress in my place; there is NO WAY he would want me back… ever!"

Kurenai sighed, shaking her head she shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you dear. But Hinata, grandma Chikako's words hold true; the others in the local market confirm her words – there was somewhere only down the roads from you looking for you. And it seems that they want to replace Hanabi with you…"

Hinata shook her head, sighing as she processed the new information.  
"But… but I don't understand. My father… he… he…"

Hinata bit her lip and hung her head, hands on her face as she breathed through confused fingers, "I don't understand anymore… why…? He can't possibly love me again; it must be for some kind of Company reason… something that Hanabi is ill fitted to do. Something that's gone wrong that's made him want to use ME in the process-"  
"Hinata, nobody is going to use you."  
Kurenai reached up and grabbed one of Hinata's wrist, gently coaxing her to sit back down and breathe.

"If you don't want them to find you, we'll help you. Like we always do. Like we always have told you, Hinata; we're your family now."

Hinata felt tears cut into the edges of her eyes as Kurenai and Asuma smiled sadly at her. Hinata sighed through her fingers, felt the tears spill and she hung her head again as she mumbled through her broken voice, "Thank you… but how will you manage that? This is the Hyuuga Company we're talking about," Hinata stared at her fingers as she sighed, "They'll do anything with the money and power they have to get what they need and what they want; you can't do much to stop them from barging in to drag me away if they ever do find me…"  
Kurenai smiled, a sly spark in her eyes as she dramatically spoke, "Exactly my point here… IF they ever find you…"  
Asuma smiled as his wife folded her hands with a smile on her face as if she had done something awfully naughty but pleasing. Hinata asked softly with a small voice, "What did you two do…?"  
"Oh trust me Hinata, nothing that breaks the law. I've simply asked the local neighborhood to keep quiet about you. A few I had to bribe, which is no problem, but other than that, you're as safe as can be."  
Kurenai tapped her lips with a finger with a smile, "You're as invisible as can be to their blind eyes."

Hinata sighed in relief, glad to hear that she'd be masked from their radars for a little longer as Asuma threw in, "Try not to get out of the house too often; you'll be noticed eventually and someone might either leak about you or they'll see you themselves if they plan to snoop around here longer."  
Kurenai nodded, squeezing her husband's hand in acknowledgment as she agreed, "Right, it'd be best if you tried not to get too involved in anything that requires you leaving the house. Now I'm not saying you should hole up in your room and live like a groundhog; no, I simply ask that whenever you DO leave, dress discreetly as possible and if they ever confront you, act incognito."

Hinata cracked a dry laugh, "Wow, it's been five years since I ran away and NOW they're searching for me… guess I'll be having to play it like a ninja for the next few weeks… maybe months…"  
Kurenai laughed with a slight hint of worry behind her words as she spoke, "Now hopefully you won't have to be like a ninja; gracious, wouldn't want you climbing roofs to get around the neighborhood. Especially since that'll only draw more attention to you…"

Hinata wrung her hands together and muttered to herself, "Five years… of bloody regret and my father is looking for me NOW of all times?"  
Darker still, Hinata whispered below an inaudible breath, "Well he's fallen five years short…"

* * *

Hiashi knocked on his daughter's bedroom door, a bit angry that his daughter was being this complicated; this was ridiculous, even for her. This wasn't his daughter. This wasn't how he raised her and taught her to be; this must've happened behind his back. No, he didn't raise her this way. He knocked again, sharper, angrier.

"Hanabi! End this foolishness and open this door immediately! You really think I'd let you stay locked up in your room for three days?! You need to eat; you need to open this door!"

A muffled scream, a distinct crackle of glass against wood and another louder, clearer yell was thrown back to him, "_WHAT THE F*CK DO YOU CARE?! YOU TOOK AWAY THE BIRTH RIGHT YOU GAVE TO ME THAT YOU, __**YOU TOOK FROM HINATA! **__I DESERVE TO BE HEIRESS! WHAT CAN HINATA DO?! SHE CAN'T DO ANYTHING – SHE'S NOTHING BUT A PIECE OF __**SH*T!**__ I CAN DO BETTER THAN HER; I'M SMARTER, I'M BRAVER, I'M STRONGER – SHE'S NOTHING! NOTHING BUT A CRYBABY, INFAMOUSLY KNOWN FOR HER OWN FAILURES – WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS FATHER?! YOU KNOW SHE'S A WRECK, HOW COMPLETELY INCAPABLE SHE IS OF RUNNING A COMPANY – MUCH LESS OURS! WHAT THE F*CK IS MAKING YOU WANT TO MAKE HER HEIRESS?! WHY, WHY, WHY?! __**I DON'T F*CKING UNDERSTAND!**__"_

He narrowed his eyes at the smooth marble door, glaring at the intricate designs etched into the marble door as he growled, "What have I taught you Hanabi?! Never to use such profane words in my household! And as for your sister…"  
He trailed off, unsure if he really would mean what he said next, "…she's still yours sister. Though she is a failure, a disappointment to the family, she's still your sister and she is still my daughter; for that I must love her as much as I love you."

There was a terrible scoff, full of contempt and dripping venom as she retorted snobbishly, "_Well f*ck her! I know you love me more than her; Hinata is just another b*tch that can't bark! She can't do anything right; she stayed an average student, always the A and B student! She never made friends, anti-social, terribly shy – she's a fake! How can a fake like her be heiress?! F*ck her about being your daughter and my sister; she's a disappointment, a stain on our family tree! Better to cut her out by the roots than to let the weed grow on us!"_

Hiashi slammed his fist against her door, making Hanabi flinch on the other side of the door, shrinking backwards as her father growled darkly, "I will NOT allow you to speak about your sister that way! EVER! You hear me miss?! If you say one more curse word against your sister-"  
He leaned closer to his daughter's door, growling angrily with bitterness soaked in his words, "-I'll drive you out of this house and strip everything from you. You will not curse the firstborn of the Hyuuga family; she is your eldest sister, firstborn, has natural born rights to be my heiress. I'm simply putting that back where it belongs. Unless you can prove me wrong, that you'd prove to be a far more suitable heiress, I might be willing to give the heiress title under your name. But unless you cut this b*tchy attitude you're throwing at me; nothing will stop me from putting Hinata back under the Heiress title."

Hanabi screamed, pulling fistful of hair from her head as she stomped around, not really caring that she stomped upon the glass of a freshly broken vase that she had broke earlier in her tantrum, "_I'M BETTER! I'VE PROVEN THAT IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! I WAS RAISED BY YOU, TAUGHT BY YOU, I WAS EVERYTHING THAT HINATA COULDN'T BE. YOU KNOW THAT! YOU KNOW AND YET STILL – YET STILL YOU'RE CALLING ME UNWORTHY?!"_

Screaming still louder she raged, "_WHAT IS IT THAT HINATA HAS THAT I POSSIBLY DON'T HAVE?! NAME IT! I CAN TOP IT OFF!"_

Her father laughed scorn at her, the tone in his voice a newly formed blade that twisted in her heart as he snapped back, "Top it off? You think you can top off your sister's one and only God given talent?"

Hanabi fell silent, her breaths coming in ragged intakes as she hysterically glared at the marble door as if she could murder it. His next words came sharper than steel, "Hinata has a kinder heart than you Hanabi. Caring, considerate, and thoughtful – for this, she is extremely insightful. She knows the hearts of others around her and never once lets her own emotions best her. What she has that you lack Hanabi… is not only the kind and compassionate heart she has and her insightful views…"

Hanabi's fingers clawed into a wretched human claw as she heard her father's next words tear through her as she tore everything around her to ruins.

"Hinata possess balance and control to what she wants and what the others want. She controls herself, she behaves herself. She understands and upon her simply honest decisions, she balances her life with the obligation of duty and self desire. You Hanabi… lack control. You lack balance. You may be the world's smartest, the world's bravest, and the world's strongest, but without your own inner balance and control over yourself, you're a slave to your own anger and hatred. And future leaders of the company-"  
He pursed his lips, his hand curled up against the marble door as he growled, "-I don't need b*tches like you to run the Company. You'd guarantee the end of The Hyuuga Company; the downfall of the Hyuuga dynasty. No, Hinata is far more accepting and less worrisome to have as my heiress than you will ever be. Selfish, self centered- I don't need brats like you as my heiress."

Leaving it on that note, he stalked away, leaving a fuming daughter in her room, confused with what her father tried to explain to her. A maidservant carrying a tray of food stood off to one as Hiashi passed her, watching the maidservant bow as low as her head could without getting her hair in the soup. "Is Mistress Hanabi available now to eat her food-"  
"Don't bother anymore; she's as stubborn as a donkey and fiercer than a tiger! Unless you want her to throw the door open and reconfigure your face, don't bother trying to feed her."  
He crossed his arms as he angrily spat, "Hell, she can starve in there if she's planning to be foolish and stubborn against me and the staff – such disrespect…"

The maidservant watched her master storm away in surprise. She turned heel and quickly made her way back down to the kitchen; eager to tell her fellow workers about the tension between the father and daughter…

* * *

**I hope you liked the chapter! Like I said, Hinata's drama will start to grow hopefully by the next chapter, so look forward to chapter 9 to those looking forward for more about Hinata's story. Don't worry though, the story behind Naruto's parents (of course in this story, there is no Kurama to incorporate since it's a modern time setting and it'd be weird to put him in, so I have something else in mind for the deaths of Naruto's parents in this story) will be revealed over time as well as what the Akatsuki have in mind with the Hyuuga Corporation. So be anticipating the next chapter my fellow fans! :) See you in the next chapter! Keep reading, reviewing, and take the poll on my profile about future stories! Thank you all and I appreciate all the support! And again:**

**HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! XD**


	9. Chapter 9: Hide

**Sorry to make everyone wait so long! I had some trouble getting this chapter together and I apologize before hand (Oh my God, I need to stop apologizing... I think I've done the same thing over and over again, if you find it annoying, just tell me and I'll stop...T^T) if this chapter lacks structure and story sense; I really had trouble getting Chapter 9 to work out so I'm sorry if it's a bit of a downer due to the lack of structure and so and so to it. There are a few parts here and there that I liked, so I hope that by the next chapter, I'll be able to make it far more enjoyable. I'm sorry to have made everyone wait so long, but here it is! Please, enjoy what you can and if this chapter sucked; it's all my fault. So I apologize for that. Anyway, here it is! Chapter 9! :) I'd like to thank all my supporters and all of those who reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. It's a great hit and I'm happy to see everyone so supportive and helpful. Thank you all and I hope you continue to serve to point out my mistakes and provide constructive/positive feedback. :) Thank you all and here you go: **

* * *

**Chapter 9: Hide**

Kurenai looked up and peered through the thin curtains that screened the small kitchen window. Outside she could hear and see a car creep up the road and park near her house. She continued watching, the water and dish soap mixing and draining at her hands unattended among the greasy, un-cleaned dishes. She squinted her eyes at the emblem on the car door, her face paling when she recognized the emblem. The Hyuuga Company. Turning off the sink with slippery wet fingers, Kurenai rushed away from the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron before running to the living room where Hinata lounged lazily.

"Hinata! Hinata, you need to go upstairs now!"  
Hinata looked up from where she was lying across the couch with her laptop balanced on her stomach. Her fingers stopped typing and her jaw went slack as she paused in mid-chew of the gum in her mouth.

"Uh… why?"

"Those men are here! The Hyuuga agents!"

"W-What!?"

"Go, go!"  
Hinata leaped up and shut her laptop, shoving it under her arm as she dashed for the stairs and running to her bedroom. Kurenai stood by the bottom of the stairs as she watched Hinata dive inside and lock her bedroom door; Hinata throwing her laptop on her bed before leaping to the windows and quickly drawing the shades closed. Then she cowered in the back of her bedroom with her knees to her chest as she sat there patiently with eyes wide and her heart beating. It was all up to Kurenai now.

Kurenai nodded, affirming that Hinata was safe in her room before turning heel to the front door. Stopping just in front of the door just in time for the heavy knocks. She stood there in stunned silence. Then she quickly shook her head and sighed, taking a deep breath, Kurenai smoothed her hair back and cleared her throat softly. Then she opened the door to greet the strangers.

* * *

Iruka stood with two other agents beside him as he knocked on the door. When whoever at the other side didn't open it quickly, he glanced at his two agents and whispered in a low voice, "Now remember; if the heiress is in here… you know what to do."

The agents nodded, hands clenching and unclenching at their sides with a firm look in their eyes. Quickly Iruka added, "BUT – remember what I told you; don't hurt anyone. Don't do anything that will give the company a bad vibe… we still have company ethics to uphold while doing public work."

Suddenly the door began unlocking from the insides, the click of chains and locks pulled back and away as Iruka turned to watch the door handle turn side to side before revolving towards the right and the door swung inwards to reveal a woman with long black hair and stunning eyes. Iruka put on his best smile and bowed respectfully.

"Good morning ma'am."  
"…Good morning."  
"I apologize if I disturbed you from your daily work or whatsoever, but I've come to ask you just a few questions. That is, if you don't mind."

The woman blinked a few times before replying with a firm voice, "I'm sorry, but I won't be answering any questions, now if you may be so kind and leave-"  
"Wait!"

Iruka held the door's edge to keep her from shutting it. She glared at him and he dipped is head again.

"I'm sorry to be so pressing on the matters at hand; but could you at least give me a reasonable enough explanation as to why you would not have a sit down talk with me?"

She eyed the men behind Iruka and back at him before retorting, "In case you're asking sir, this is the suburban towns of Konoha. My neighbors and I are all innocent, poor simple people. We have families to take care of and harsh work to deal with each and every day. However people like you come here intent on stripping what's left of the innocent men and women here; picking their pockets clean of money, taking homes, and selling property to city development. I've heard about the Hyuuga Company; a prosperous business cooperation known to make nearly all of the products and provide businesses and service in Konoha. I won't stand for men like you to walk around asking strange questions around this neighborhood; a few of my neighbors warned me of you men. You best stay away from my household."

She shot an icy glare to Iruka's agents and hissed, "And your men."

Iruka felt offended, but then he simply kept his humbleness and replied, "Well ma'am, I assure you, whatever your neighbors have told you, we were simply mistakened. Ma'am, I have no intentions of asking these questions to frighten or drag anything out of you innocent people. I'm only here on behalf of my president; he's looking for his missing daughter. Five years she's ran away from home and he only wants her back; as a parent, one must look for their lost children, no?"

The woman scoffed dryly, glaring around the stunned faces of the men before spitting, "A parent? You call him… a parent?"  
"Excuse me, but please don't start on offending my president-"  
"I'm not offending him! I'm simply stating the obvious fact. Think for a moment!"

She stepped outside to stand before them, slamming the door shut behind her as she stuck her face in front of his angrily declaring to his face.

"How many years has it been since she disappeared? You said five?"  
"Yes…"

"And how many times has her father looked for her?"  
"Uh-"  
"EXACTLY! What kind of a parent would NOT search from his or her son or daughter in any case scenario!? She went MISSING! And what did he do!?"  
She slashed the air in front of her with her arm before bitterly snapping, "NOTHING!"  
"Ma'am, please, don't get over dramatic here-"  
"I'M NOT DRAMATIZING ALL OF THIS!"  
Iruka lifted his eyes to the sky and moaned softly.  
'_Oh geez… wrong house.'_

"Seriously, what kind of a parent would ignore the fact that one of their precious children has gone missing!? And what is he doing now!? He's looking for her after FIVE years of denial and neglect; I think it's pretty obvious to see that he wasn't a good father in the first place!"

The agents behind Iruka whispered to him in a low voice with an urgent manner, "Sir… her neighbors…"

Iruka glanced at the neighboring houses where windows had their curtains drawn back with staring pairs of eyes behind walls of glass. Others were standing in their lawns with the mail tucked under their arms watching the exchange. They glanced at their car. They glanced at the men; frowned at how well dressed they were. The eyes of the neighbors watched and stared; and they listened.

"I don't know WHY you're even here in the first place! We don't know anything about the Hyuuga family! Look at us! We live OUTSIDE the city! We've never met or spoke with any Hyuuga representative – other than you right now – and we most certainly haven't met anyone who has."  
The woman pointed a finger at their car and snapped, "Now you best be on your way! I don't want to have a sit down tea talk with you men to be asked useless, pointless questions that won't even benefit you! I have no answers to give you because I know nothing about the heiress neither about her whereabouts! I know what you're going to ask; have you seen her? Do you know where she could've gone? And possible places she was last seen – I don't have any answers!"  
She took a deep breath and pulled herself back together; wiped a tear from her eye and then spoke in a more compulsorily voice, "Now… please, leave my property."  
"Ma'am, can we just-"  
"I said LEAVE!"

The woman grabbed the broom that was lying against her door frame outside of her house and began sweeping at his feet, forcing him backwards in surprise as she slashed the air before him violently with her broom.

"Leave my property AND my neighborhood! Stop bothering us!"

"We don't mean any harm or offense ma'am! Could you just please-"  
"I have enough with you! Tell your president that he can go sniff for his daughter someplace else; she is most DEFINITELY not here! Go away!"

She chased them off her sidewalk and her broom slapped the concrete ground with a violent snap as she glared at them run to their car. She stood and held the broom out in front of her menacingly as the men drove away; her neighbors smiling and chuckling in approval at the show.

"AND DON'T COME BACK!"

One of her neighbors leaned over the fence as Kurenai stormed back to her door, the middle aged woman smiled and asked in a sly voice, "Gave them quite the scare, didn't you Kurenai?"

Kurenai shot her a look before cracking a smile.

"Well… I have to do what I have to."  
The woman smiled and nodded, Kurenai stopping to stand before her with her arms crossed and the broom standing at her side with one hand clasped tightly around the handle.

"Those men… they were here for Hinata weren't they?"  
Kurenai shot her a worried look before the woman eased her fears, "Don't worry, I heard all about it on the news; everyone on the block has. That's why we warned you about them, that they're snooping around the neighborhood because they seem pretty convinced that she's here… they're one heck of a group – they hunt her down like a bunch of bloodhounds. They're stubborn too, considering they haven't moved on…"

Kurenai sighed, shaking her head as she mumbled, "Goodness… it's getting harder now. Those men drive by almost as discreetly as possible every week or so. Every time I see a car drive by my house, I always have to tell Hinata to hide. She's always stuck inside the house and she's growing more paranoid than ever. The only time she ever leaves the room is whenever she needs to go to the restroom or have her daily meals."  
Kurenai sighed again.

"I'm so mad right now; but mostly sad. Hinata just got back to her normal lifestyle; she was lounging in the living room earlier. Until I heard the car drive by…"

"There, there now, you're doing all you can for her. And that's enough for her, she's grateful for your help."  
The woman reached over and patted Kurenai's shoulder sympathetically; Kurenai smiled and shook her head.

"No, not just me. Everyone in the neighborhood; without all of you keeping quiet about her existence within my household, they would've already barged in and dragged her away."

Kurenai looked around the neighborhood, catching familiar faces and smiling at them; her fellow neighbors gave one another knowing looks and shared smiles. Winks were given across lawns and the smiles didn't leave the neighbors' faces. The woman at the fence smiled and shook her head lightly laughing, "Of course we'd keep quiet about it. You know how we all love you and Hinata here; we certainly wouldn't want those men causing you two any trouble in anyway whatsoever. Besides, we planned this years ago. If Hinata ever became their target for whatever reason, we'd do all we can to keep them away."

Kurenai smiled and nodded, looking at her lawn as she ran her shoe over the grass.

"Yes, I know. You all are very good people."  
"Thank you."  
"…now I better get back inside. I should go tell Hinata that they're gone."  
The woman smiled and waved at her as she turned to walk back inside the house.

"Alright, tell Hinata we're all rooting for her!"

Kurenai smiled and waved her fingers at the woman and at all her neighbors before quickly running back in her house, closing and locking the door behind her before kicking off her shoes and rushing to the stairs.

"Hinata? Hinata dear, it's alright; the coast is clear."

Hinata opened her door a slit and all Kurenai could see was her eye – wide and scared.

"A-Ah… g-good…"

"Dear, its fine, you can come out now-"  
"No! I mean… I'll just… stay in here for a while longer… maybe for the rest of the day?"

Kurenai looked down at Hinata sadly, Hinata's eyes down casted for a moment before Kurenai sighed and replied, "O-Oh, alright then. Okay… whatever works best with you dear… I'm fine with that."  
Hinata bowed her head and mumbled, "T-Thank you."  
Then she quickly shut the door again and Kurenai heard it lock in a frantic fluster of fingers before she heard her shuffle away in her room. Kurenai placed one hand on her door and sighed, resting her forehead against the polished wood she mumbled inaudibly to herself, "Oh Hinata… if only there was something more I could do for you."

* * *

He yawned again, rubbing his tired and burning eyes; he groped blindly for the cup of coffee beside him and took a swig – twisting his face in repulsed disgust when he realized it was bland.

"Ugh… bland…"

He pushed the cup away and sighed, running a hand through his messy and tangled hair as he groaned.

"Hmm… was that my fifth cup? I don't even remember how many times I drank coffee all night…"

He sighed again and mumbled, "Geez… ramen would be ten times better though… of course Choji just had to raid the food closet and 'snack' on the entire pack."

The blond rubbed his eyes again before standing up from his chair and stretching. He stretched his muscles and groaned as his muscles tensed; then he glanced back down at the laptop he was using and moaned.

"Surfing the entire web for nearly seven hours straight… God, Sasuke better pay me back for all I'm doing for him."

Naruto placed a heavy hand on the laptop and clapped it shut – then he powered it down and tucked it under one arm and the other arm reached to grab his bland coffee as he walked to the sink draining it. Shikamaru suddenly walked in the kitchen, yawning and rubbing the grit from his eyes as he went to fetch himself a glass of water. He grumbled to the exhausted blond as he passed him, "Nyeh… morning Naruto."

"Morning Shikamaru."

Shikamaru yawned again and grabbed a clean cup off the counter (at least they think it's clean…) and poured cold clean water into his cup before taking a quick swallow. The cold rushed down his throat and woke him up some, making him blink a few times before exclaiming, "Wow. Cold."

He sighed and stood there scratching the back of his head as he yawned for the millionth time as he checked the clock; six am. Wait. Since when did Naruto get up at six in the morning…?

Shikamaru glanced at the blond who was filling up another fresh cup of coffee in his cup; he leaned across the countertops and groaned as he took another dreadful sip of his coffee.

"Naruto!"

Shikamaru snapped awake as he remembered what was bugging him and he stormed over and snatched the cup from his hands.

"Hey-!"  
"Don't tell me you were doing it again!"  
"Doing what!?"  
"The last time I saw you researching about the Akatsuki on my blasted laptop was at twelve midnight! Don't tell me you didn't get ANY sleep last night!"

"Geez Shikamaru! Chill-ax! I took a few breaks in between…"  
"For what!? More coffee!?"

"Look, I'm just trying to get some info gathered, that's all."

"Naruto, we don't need you half exhausted; we need you rested and healthy – look at you!"  
Shikamaru poked Naruto's face and frowned with dismay.

"You have dark circles around your eyes!"  
"Nyeh, they'll go away in time. I'm fine; I swear!"

"You little-"  
"Well, well, I almost thought it was Neji getting on to Naruto about something – I'm surprised to find that it's actually you Shikamaru."  
Sasuke stood at the kitchen entrance with the newspaper tucked under his arm as he smirked.

"Usually you're not the one to mother hen Naruto. You're used to be the lazy bum around here; what happened to all that?"

"I know, usually I don't, I don't like wasting the energy on it all; but nobody seems to be restraining Naruto around here! I'm the only one who's doing that for his sake – can you believe it Sasuke!? Naruto stood up from twelve midnight to six am! WITHOUT any sleep!"

Sasuke whistled and took the cup from Shikamaru's hand and sniffed it before taking a sip. Naruto stifled a laugh (knowing all too well who's cup that was) as Sasuke raised his eyebrows at the two.

"Naruto? He didn't sleep? I can sort of believe that; though at the same time, I can't. So, what kept him up?"

Shikamaru shot Naruto an accusing look before crossing his arms.  
"Researching more about the Akatsuki."

Sasuke blinked and his expression hardened as he set down the cup on the counter and crossed his arms.

"Naruto, I thought we went over this as a group."  
"I know guys, I know! But come on, we just met them, and that means they're in the city! We need to hunt them down and bring them down while we still can! This is our one and only chance!"

"Naruto, do you want to get yourself killed again?"

Naruto blinked and frowned at Sasuke.

"What…?"  
"You heard me; do you want to get yourself killed?"

Naruto scoffed, clearly offended as he retorted, "Who are you talking to!? YOU were the one that was getting beaten around by your own brother!"

Shikamaru realized that the situation would only grow worse so he quickly stepped between the two and stopped it before it could get any worse.

"LOOK! Naruto, Sasuke's point is, he just wants you to stop doing such foolish things; you agreed to let him deal with it. You just lie low and recover; you heard what the doctors said – you need to take it easy."

Shikamaru glanced at Naruto's shirt, where he knew underneath that were the stitches and bandages from his last surgery.

"You don't want to reopen that."

Naruto bit his lip and sighed off to the side in frustration, "Geez… I was just trying to help!"

Sasuke pushed past Shikamaru and placed a hand on his shoulder and firmly replied, "You've helped enough. Look, I appreciate the help, but you really need to take it easy now. Shikamaru and the others are right; rest for now. When your injury has healed completely, you can help us again."  
Naruto glared at the two before growling, "And how long will that take!? Three months? That's what happened last time!"

"Would you rather get yourself killed if we get into another tumble with the Akatsuki!? Think Naruto! Do you think you can handle anything right now!?"

Naruto stood up to Shikamaru and spat back, "I can handle everything myself thank you-"

Sasuke stepped towards Naruto and threw a punch to his stomach; Naruto gasped and clutched his stomach as he staggered backwards. He stayed crouched over as he collapsed to his knees and cursed.

"F*ck! What was that for!?"

"See? You can't even take a simple punch – even when the injury is in your chest and not your stomach. If you can't even handle a simple hit like that, how are you going to help us in anything if the Akatsuki come at us with guns and knives?"

Naruto glared at Sasuke from where he crouched on the tiled floors, he then sighed and shook his head bitterly.

"Guys… I just want to help!"

"Just stop Naruto; because you're not helping at all."

Sasuke crouched down in front of Naruto and glared at the icy blue glare he shot back at the Uchiha.

"You're not helping at all."

* * *

Sakura handed Kiba another roll of bandages and strictly ordered him," AND, use these bandages to change his bandages regularly. Since he's seems to be SOOO intent on moving around so much, he might over stress it some days and cause his stitches to bleed. So just in case, there are the bandages. But try not to make him move around too much; otherwise he'll never get healed as fast as he wants. You and the others have to control him, alright?"  
Kiba grunted as he stuffed the roll of bandage in the large grocery sack in front of him to the pile of medicine and ointments inside.  
"Okay, okay! Geez, no more, please-"  
"Oh, oh! One more thing! Damn it, if I hadn't remembered you would've left and what if it happened- WAIT RIGHT HERE! I'm going to go get ONE more thing!"

Sakura dashed to her inventory and Kiba groaned, slamming his head against the counter as he moaned, "Why!? He'll be fine; stop giving me more and more! We're not even going to use it all!"

Sakura came back with ointment for muscle relief as she glared at him and slapped it on the counter and slipped it to him angrily.

"Shut up and listen; now this you can use for Neji and Naruto, since they both got shot anyway. This one is more for Neji's use though. Now Neji will probably heal faster than Naruto, so give this to him to use when his own stitches heal and his wound is completely healed. He can use this ointment to relive any muscle pain in his shoulder; it usually helps – a lot. After he's done with it, and if Naruto heals by then, he can use it too."

Kiba bitterly snatched that off the counter and tossed that in the sack and whined, "Okay, okay! Got it! Can I go now? God, Sasuke only sent me to get Naruto some sleeping medicine! Not a sack full of-"  
"AH! WAIT! One more-"  
"Oh God – ENOUGH! JUST F*CKING STOP!"

Sakura stood stunned and frowned as she hung her head twisting her hands together in shame, "Okay, okay… alright, I guess I was being a bit… too worried."  
Kiba hefted the bag of items and glared at Sakura from behind it all,

"Pah – you think!?"  
"Shut up Kiba. Just… make sure Naruto gets better."  
Kiba blinked and smiled slyly.

"Heh – let me guess… you-"  
"Don't misunderstand me Inuzuka. Naruto has been my childhood friend; as much as we all know of the little love triangle that went around when we were younger, none of it is like that now. I'm just concerned for Naruto as a friend; nothing more or less."

Sakura crossed her arms over her pharmacy coat and glared at a smiling Kiba as she added, "And yes, I still have high hopes on Sasuke, in case you were going to ask."

"Alright, alright, whatever you say miss."

Kiba dragged the bag to his car and dumped them in the back. Sighing as he went around the car to sit in the driver's seat as Sakura walked out with him to see him on his way.

"Oh, and one more thing-"  
"What now!?"  
"… Tell Sasuke I said… hi."  
Kiba eyed Sakura who dropped a wistful gaze to the ground. Kiba shifted in his seat awkwardly as he reached to start the engine.

"Uh, yeah, whatever, sure."

"And… tell him to watch Naruto. Please."

She sighed and looked away as she wiped a tear from her eyes.

"Tell him to look after him; since Sasuke is the only one really there for Naruto, he's the only support I can rely on that will actually help the idiot. Make sure he does this."  
"Ooookaaay…eesh, this is getting awkward; can I go now?"

Sakura nodded, took a step back to the sidewalk and stood beside her pharmacy with her hands on her elbows waving and apologizing, "Oh, right, sorry…"

Kiba made a face (relief?) before taking the wheel and driving away. Sakura watched Kiba drive off and she sighed to herself, a hand running through uncombed pink strands of hair that painfully got caught in her fingers as they tangled and forced her hands to stop halfway through.

"Oh God… Uzumaki better get better. And Sasuke…"  
She blinked sadly at the ground before shaking her head and turning heel back inside her pharmacy, leaving the thought unfinished.

* * *

The silver haired young agent looked up from his paperwork and took his feet off the desk and stood up, straightening his clothes as he greeted his colleague.

"Ah, hello Iruka, how did it go?"  
Iruka gave Kakashi an incredulous look before grumbling as he trudged to his own desk, "Ugh, horrible."  
Kakashi raised his eyebrows as Iruka sank in his seat heavily with a sigh and hands to his temples.

"What happened?"  
"Ran into a crazy woman who snapped; apparently the entire neighborhood is against us now."

"I'm not surprised."

Iruka sighed and twisted around in his chair and looked up at Kakashi as he asked; "Now… what do you want to do now? The entire neighborhood seems to want to either pick my pockets clean or rip my head off. I'm definitely not walking back in there again; I've faced enough brooms and fists in my face enough for today."

Kakashi rubbed his chin and paced the room slowly as he pondered thoughtfully upon the subject at hand.

"Hmm… I understand. It'll be hard to keep asking unwilling locals about the new heiress. We'll just have to find another way."  
Iruka sat up in his chair and propped his elbows on the desk with his hands folded as he raised his eyebrows.

"Well knowing you, you always have a plan B. What do you want to do?"

Kakashi smiled and grabbed his coat off his chair and gestured for the door.

"Wanna go meet the boys now?"

Iruka brightened and jumped out of his chair quickly with a grin.

"You mean Naruto and the others? Oh yes I do!"

"First we'll check in with the president, he asked me to swing by some point today to discuss a few things. I hope you don't mind."

Iruka shook his head and smiled.

"Whatever works with you, I'm fine about it all. Are we going to bring Guy?"

"Probably; he's never seen his favorite pupil Lee Rock in a long, long time. Besides, if we don't and he finds out we met with the boys, he'll get really upset that we didn't bring him along."

Iruka nodded, then he shrugged and smiled, "Yeah, we should definitely bring him along."  
Kakashi nodded as the two left their offices to check in with the president before leaving for the boys.

"I think so too."

* * *

Hiashi rubbed his temples, he could still hear his daughter screaming through the phone despite being locked in her room as the maidservant on the phone line begged the president, "_Please sir, do something about her! We can't handle this much longer; she's been screaming all morning and all night for the past three days, isn't there something you can do? I swear; these old ears of mine will bleed over if she keeps it up!"_

"I'm dreadfully sorry about my daughter's behavior. I truly am. I'm going to get this all sorted out by the end of today, and if she still screams by then, you and the other servants in the household are excused to your own homes for a break until she stops screaming. I understand how difficult it may be working under such conditions."

"_Thank you so much President Hiashi! Thank you!"_

He smiled and nodded with a tired sigh, "No problem miss. Please bear just a little longer and I should be on my way to speak with my troubled daughter."

Then they exchanged a few last words before he hung up the phone. He leaned back in his chairs and groaned, his ears ringing with his daughter's screaming. He was shamed to think his daughter had always been this arrogant and misbehaving. He had never known because she always acted so matured and picture-perfect whenever he was around – no wonder why the servants shot his daughter dirty looks almost every day when he got home. The door knocked and he groaned in response, "Yes?"

Kakashi and Iruka walked in and gave Hiashi formal bows.

"Good morning president Hiashi."  
"Yes, yes, forget all that though; you two need to help me about this."

Hiashi fished around his drawer and pulled out the newspaper and dropped it on his desk with a sigh.

"This is a sample of what the newspaper will be like tomorrow. Look it over and see if it's properly done."  
Kakashi reached for the newspaper and held it out for him and Iruka to look at:

**KONOHA CITY NEWS:**

"**HYUUGA PRESIDENT DECLARES A NEW HEIRESS: HINATA HYUUGA IS BACK IN LINE!"**

Two days ago, President Hiashi had a private talk with the publisher of Konoha City newspaper and discussed the news he wished to share with everyone; he has announced a new heir for his Company. And he's claiming that new heiress to be his original heiress, Hinata Hyuuga. Though little is known about the details behind the story, President Hiashi is willing to attend an interview by _FLASH NEWS _next week hosted by famous reporter, Zoi Zhang. Until then, no further details are known concerning as to why and how this has came to be so, all we do know is that he has now formally announced that he his second daughter, Hanabi Hyuuga is no longer his heiress; his heiress title passed back to his eldest daughter, Hinata Hyuuga.

_-Tune in next week's edition for the printed review of his interview with FLASH NEWS-_

Kakashi shrugged.

"Huh, that's awfully short for a 'news article'. You sure you don't want to tell them more than this?"  
Hiashi nodded.

"I want to keep it short and sweet. Besides, telling the whole world that I just switched heiresses – again – is bad enough for Hanabi. When she hears about it, she won't just be screaming in her room all day. She's going to flip out; this is all I'm willing to give to the public about this."

Kakashi nodded and Iruka shook his head with dismay.

"It's so sad how you have to go through all this president. Not to mention how difficult it is to actually find Hinata Hyuuga."

Hiashi sighed and rubbed his temples again.

"I'll live…"

"Speaking about Hinata Hyuuga, we believe we have a lead on her."  
Hiashi sat up in his chair, alert and awake as he focused on the two men in front of him as he grimly folded his hands in front of him and nodded to them, "Alright… tell me all about it."

Iruka started first, "Well when Kakashi got me involved, he first have me go to the market place asking around in the suburban edges down south of the city at the harbor. I was asking around and it seems that no one really recalls of ever meeting Hinata Hyuuga, so naturally, I presumed that she wasn't in the area."  
Kakashi stepped in, "However, I was able to quickly prove that presumption wrong when I asked for the records of all the citizens of the suburban areas from the city mayor."

Hiashi raised his eyebrows at that.

"Oh? And they actually let you access the private files?"  
"Yes and no. I was only allowed to ask for any recent citizens that had moved in the area since five years ago. The only one that seemed to match up at all were a few young women in the southern suburbs. However none of them were willing to meet with Iruka because they feared the Company."

Hiashi rolled his eyes and groaned, "Ah, great. Guess you should try meeting them incognito?"

"I doubt that sir. They know Iruka all too well and even if he was to dress up and such, they would probably recognize him yet still because he tends to be very formal when he speaks to them. And they'd recognize me off the bat; my silver hair screams my name to them."

Hiashi groaned and banged his head on the desk, surprising the two men briefly before the president raised his head back up again, a hand at his temples as he moaned.

"Whatever, alright. Just do what you can. I need to meet with her soon and discuss the real reason why I need her to play along; like I said, this change won't be permanent. This is only until Hanabi learns her lesson."

Kakashi nodded.

"Of course president."

'_But what if that brat never changes? What if you realize that Hinata may just be a better heiress than her? It's funny how it all works, but you should really think about it… Hiashi Hyuuga.'_

"Now, besides Hinata and my 'declaration of a new heiress', I want to ask you about Hanabi. Right now, my servants are complaining to me because she's been screaming day and night for the past three days, she doesn't seem to be stopping."

Kakashi rolled his eyes and sighed, "Oh God…"

"I know right- ahem! Anyway, it's getting out of hand. I don't know what to do… what do fathers usually do to their disobedient children?"  
He ran his hands through his hair and grumbled, "Walk in with a good beating in mind or talk her out of it? Or maybe a combination of the both… I don't know. I never done this before."

"No kidding sir."  
Iruka shot Kakashi a warning glare, warning him not to get too comfortable talking back to the president in the dry rudeness Kakashi spoke to him with. However Hiashi could care less about that right now and simply continued, "The situation is getting so stressful for me, not only is there the issue about my daughters and the heiress title, my finances are getting out of control!"

Iruka frowned.

"The Company's finances?"  
"Yes! Take a look."

He brought out a file that he got from the head of the financial department and pushed it to the two men as he leaned back in his chair with a hand to his forehead and a long drawn out sigh dragged out from his lungs as he closed his eyes in frustration. Kakashi and Iruka flipped through the reports and skimmed through the files before looking at one another with a frown.

"Well this is most… peculiar. From all my years here, this has never happened before."  
Hiashi nodded in agreement.

"Remember Kakashi? Remember when I mentioned to you about how the Company's profits decreasing ever so slightly?"

"Well technically the Company was still getting its profits, just at a slower rate sir."

"Yes, yes, whatever. Anyway, so I went to the financial department to talk to the head chief there and when I pointed this out, he frowned, scratched his head and shrugged. They don't know what's going on and I've got them working their butts off trying to figure out what the hell the reports are as they are and now whoever is tampering with the Company's profits and finances, they're really trying to ruin my Company; so far, my profits are decreasing and the money I have saved for the Company's use is being drained. Someone is messing with the company."  
He leaned forward in his chair and resumed a formal approach as he ordered the two men, "I know you two are busy with the entire heiress fiasco going on here, but I also need you guys to start helping me about this… tampering business. I want you to find out who, what, where, how, and why this is happening. I can't risk any more of problems to plague my Company. I've lost so many employees because of Hanabi's careless firing tantrum spree and I'm so busy with meetings, paperwork, and planning for so many projects and business work, I can't deal with it right now. Can I trust you two to help me out?"  
Kakashi and Iruka nodded, bowing their heads as they replied in unison, "Yes sir."  
"Great. You may leave my office now, go on and do whatever you were planning on doing. I'll just be here…"  
Hiashi sighed as he reached for his pen and grabbed another stack of papers from his desk and set them beside him as he got down to scribbling his signatures while reading whatever it was on the paper with a hand through his hair as he grumbled, "…dealing with this awful stack of neglected paper work."

The two agents left the president to his work and the two left to go meet the boys…

* * *

Hinata paced her room worriedly as she muttered to herself, "Alright… you're okay… they won't find you… ever. If you concealed yourself for five years… you can do it for five more… and even more than that… forever even. Just don't get yourself caught… don't slip up… don't be seen… "  
Hinata rubbed her arms, still pacing her room worried and concerned as she eventually sat down on her bed and sighed with her face in her hands.

"…what am I doing? How long will I do this?"

Hinata leaned back and lay on her back across her bed as she groaned. She was tired of this. Hiding. Running. Avoiding people. It was becoming so redundant and constant that she was growing tired of it all. Would things have been different if Hinata was… different herself? Maybe if she had a bit more confidence in herself. Maybe if she had been talented like her sister, she wouldn't have left the Hyuuga household in the very first place. Hinata rolled on her side and stared at her hands as she continued thinking to herself. What of all the trouble she could've avoided? If she had just been better at the things her father wanted her to do well at, if she had been the heiress her father expected her to be… if she had been the perfect daughter…

Suddenly Hinata clenched her hands into fists, a glare in her eyes as she watched her hands tighten into the fists she made them into; watching her knuckles grow white.

No.

Who cared what her father wanted!?

This was her life; this was what all she was capable of and this was who she was.

If her father didn't like that, if her father couldn't accept that; then it all sucks for him.

It really didn't matter to Hinata anyway if she was going to end up as heiress. She didn't care for what her father wanted for her – because he was only thinking about the company… never once had he ever thought about her as his daughter. He had never been thoughtful towards her.

Hinata wouldn't let the past tie her down now.

No longer will she pace in her locked bedroom and cry and whine about the men who stalked her neighborhood. It was time she finally stopped hiding… and start over again like she originally planned to five years ago.

Hinata sat up again and sighed, she stared at her trembling hands – hands that trembled because of the overwhelming feelings that were bursting inside her; from now on, she'll try to be herself. She'll try to find herself and become the person she always wanted to be.

Away with the stutters.

Put away the shyness.

Smother the fear.

Forget the guilt.

Kill the past.

Hinata closed her eyes and took a long deep, shaky breath. She clasped her hands together in front of her heart and took a few more breaths. Then she sighed and breathed, "Alright… okay…"

She reopened her eyes with a new resolve as she stood and marched to her blinds and threw the curtains open. Standing in front of her window she looked outside and muttered a challenge with steady hands on the window sill, "Just try… and find me. And if you do find me… just try and catch me."

* * *

The group assembled quietly in the living room and waited for Sasuke to join them.

Sasuke opened the door to Naruto's room and checked to make sure he was sleeping; sure enough, the medicine they made him take dragged him into much needed sleep and now he was out cold as a rock – not even a parade would make him wake up. Content that he was surely asleep, Sasuke backed back out of the bedroom and closed the door before tiptoeing back to the living room, the expectant faces of the other boys questioning him without words.

"Naruto is sleeping like a hibernating bear. He should be out for a while."  
Neji nodded.

"Good… he needs that sleep."  
Shikamaru, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, added quickly, "Which brings us to the reason of this meeting."

Choji glanced around the room as he, for once, wasn't eating a single thing at the moment.

"So what is the reason?"  
Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and simply began; "Well you see, remember how in the last meeting we had with Naruto saying that he should rest and get better before he even thinks about helping us? Well, apparently he didn't want to be left behind all the action and excitement of hunting the Akatsuki and so he's been researching the Akatsuki in his free time on Shikamaru's laptop."  
Shikamaru intervened, "WHICH, I only told him to use until ten in the evening; after that, I told him to go strictly to bed. I know, it sounds childish that I said that to him, but he really needed to sleep!"

The boys exchanged concerned expressions to one another as they sighed.

"Anyway, may I continue Shikamaru?"  
"Go on."  
Sasuke rolled his eyes at Shikamaru's blunt reply; he must still be sour about Naruto's actions today.

"So Naruto apparently had been disobeying Shikamaru's bed time curfew and was sneaking out to the kitchen with Shikamaru's laptop to research all night about the Akatsuki. However he was caught twice doing so; today being the second time. So God knows how long he's been doing it."

Kiba dropped his face in his hand as he groaned, "Aw geez… that b*stard!"

Neji folded his hands in his lap as he muttered, "So… what do you want to do about it? After all, it's not like we can keep feeding him those pills to make him sleep all the time. What should we do to keep him busy while we work on finding the Akatsuki?"

Lee raised his hand quietly as he considerately took in consideration that Naruto was sleeping in the next room, and spoke in a softer voice than his usual loud voice, "May I suggest something? Someone should be assigned to amuse or keep Naruto busy while the rest of us work on finding the Akatsuki."

Shikamaru shrugged.

"Not a bad idea Lee. So let's see… well obviously we need Sasuke in the team. So he can't babysit Naruto."  
Sasuke lifted his eyes to the ceiling muttering a silent thank you for not being pinned with the job to amuse Naruto for God knows how long.

"We'll also need Shino since he's our emergency medical guy and our interrogator. I want Choji to help us since he handles out supplies and other things. Neji should come along since he's the only other guy who can kick ass on our team almost as good as Sasuke and Naruto, I'm coming along too since I'm the planning one, Lee and Kiba need to come because they're the ones who are pretty good at working fast and gathering information… uh…"  
Shikamaru scratched the back of his head as he sighed, "That's… everyone, isn't it?"  
The group sighed and shook their heads.

"Maybe we could ask Sai to watch him?"  
Shino shook his head.

"Last time I talked to him, he was busy with an art convention that was coming up."

"Then maybe Tenten or Ino?"  
Neji shook his head.

"Tenten has a court case to go to because of this crook she caught on patrol last week; the guy was carrying unauthorized weapons without license or permission and she confiscated them and took him in for questioning – he didn't take it well. So she went to court against him."  
Choji also added, "Oh, and Ino told me something like she was going to a fashion show somewhere out of the city?"

"Sakura?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Maybe. Though I doubt she'll want to babysit the sucker, I guess it depends on how sympathetic she'll be."

Shikamaru shrugged.

"Nyeh, give it a shot. Besides, if she doesn't want to do it, we can always ask Neji's cousin-"  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up here. You are NOT putting my cousin with Naruto under the same roof for more than a day – I won't stand for it!"

Kiba threw the Hyuuga an incredulous look.

"Oh get over it Neji; he stayed over at her house for one night, you didn't say anything about it."

Neji shot him a glare and hissed, "That's because you locked me in my room the entire night!"

"Did I? No I didn't – oh, right, I did. Well still, they didn't do anything over the night… if you know what I mean."  
Kiba wiggled is eyebrows and Neji pointed and him and exclaimed, "See!? See!? This is why I don't want any of you guys – especially Naruto – around Hinata under the same roof, alone, for God knows how long! Besides, I don't think she can accept the position considering she has her novels to write and how she can't handle being the same house with a bunch of… guys."  
Kiba held out his hands in his innocence.

"Hey! Maybe we smell, but we so don't bite."

Neji cringed and shook his head, "Not where I was leading to, but… whatever."

Sasuke shook his head and sighed, "Look, here's what we're gonna do, alright?"  
The boys turned their attention to the Uchiha as he straight away instructed, "What we're going to all agree on is that Naruto must stay home and rest and heal; he won't be taking part of the Akatsuki hunting activity until then, understood?"  
They nodded as he continued, "And judging by how Shikamaru needs each and every one of us working together to hunt the Akatsuki down, none of us can stay behind to watch Naruto. What we'll do is ask Sakura or Hinata to watch him, depending on who will. So I'll go ask Sakura and Kiba, why don't you go with Shino to ask Hinata as well? Just in case of them says no, we can hope that the other will have said yes. After arranging who will stay and watch over Naruto, we'll start proceeding with the other things concerning the Akatsuki. But for now, let's just make sure Naruto gets restrained. Understand?"

Neji raised his hand and stubbornly added, "I'll only agree to these terms as long as I get to go with Kiba and Shino to have a chance to convince my cousin otherwise. I don't intend to let her make her own choices without knowing all sides to the fact that she'd be watching Naruto for God knows how long…"

"Fine, you can go with them. Everyone got this?"

The boy nodded before they stood and dispersed from the living room. Sasuke walked with Kiba, Shino and Neji to the garage heading to their separate vehicles. Sasuke slipped on his helmet as he jumped on his motorcycle, saluting to the other boys over the roar of his engine as the other three boys boarded the van that Kiba insisted on driving (to the dismay of Shino and Neji). Then Sasuke punched the gas and sped away from the other boys to meet with Sakura…

* * *

Kurenai sat with her husband in the dining room nursing their tea in their hands as they conversed to one another in low, hushed voices with the drapes drawn over the windows. Asuma looked up at his wife as he asked, "Is Hinata still…?"  
Kurenai sighed and nodded, running a hand through her tangled hair she mumbled back, "Yes… she's still in her room, hiding away…"

"Will she be alright?"

Kurenai looked at her husband in the eye and sighed, shaking her head.

"I don't know… I really don't know anymore."

Asuma reached over and took her hand in his, smiling reassuringly he ran a thumb over her hand as he murmured, "I'm sure she'll be fine…"

Kurenai gave him a small, halfhearted smile before the two looked up at the sound of Hinata's door opening and closing. Hinata staggered down the stairs as pale faced as ever as she walked past them and into the kitchen. Kurenai stood and exclaimed in surprise, "Hinata…! You look so pale; are you alright?"

Asuma turned in his chair to watch with Kurenai as Hinata grabbed a glass of water and took a deep, long drink. Afterwards she gasped and dropped the glass back on the countertop while wiping her wet lips on her sleeve. She closed her eyes and sighed, her head hanging as silence stretched into an uncomfortable lapse of time. Kurenai tried again, "Hinata… are you alright?"

Suddenly to their surprise and disturbed fear, Kurenai and Asuma started watching Hinata giggle and laugh to herself with her hair over her eyes as she continued to hide her face from them; all they could see was a glimpse of her, presumably insane, smile. Then she lifted her head and smiled at Kurenai and Asuma while brushing the hair out of her eyes as she sighed in relief.

"You know what… I am. I feel better than before."

Asuma stared at her before cautiously asking, "…are you certain? You sound a bit… strange."

"No, I'm fine. I apologize if I worried you two; but I'm fine."

Hinata smiled; the look in her eyes unrecognizable as she giggled, "Just fine."

Kurenai shot her husband a worried glance before looking back at Hinata with concern.

"I'm not sure you are… are you alright with leaving your room?"

"Positively. Besides, if those men come in here again…"  
Hinata sparked a wicked smile as she challenged, "They can just TRY finding me. And if they manage that, just watch them try to CATCH me. They won't lay a finger on me as long as I live and breathe."

Kurenai walked over to her husband's side and squeezed his arm, staring at Hinata with alarmed concern as she murmured, "What happened to you…? Why are you acting so differently Hinata?"

Hinata blinked and her smile softened as she replied, "Me…? What happened to me? Trust me Kurenai, it's nothing bad… no, just a slight alteration in how I'm going to live my life now. I'm just tired of hiding and running away all my life. Do you know the real reason why I ran away…?"

When they didn't reply she simply continued, "I ran away to escape the prejudice of my bloodline and the Hyuuga household; but I mostly ran away to erase the past and start fresh. But I was foolish enough to let it linger in my mind and for the past five years, I've lived in the regret I meant to smother away. But now I realize my error and now, I'm going to fix that, starting today."

There was a rattling knock on the door, the color draining from Kurenai's face as she started for the door. Suddenly Hinata was walking towards the door with an arm out towards Kurenai as she declared, "Let me handle this."

Kurenai grabbed Hinata's and hissed in a low voice, "Are you crazy!? What if it's the same men from before?! I'd have to explain who you are and-"  
Hinata gently peeled Kurenai's hand from her arm and smiled at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry Kurenai; I can put up a convincing act too if it's needed. Besides, I don't think it's the same men this time…"

"Hinata-"  
"Trust me Kurenai."

Then Hinata yanked open the door and Kurenai cringed, waiting to see the same men from before and face the dreaded encounter… wait, what…?

Kiba smiled at the three inside the house and cheerfully waved.

"Hi! I'm Kiba Inuzuka, I'm a friend of Naruto and I've got a request to ask for Hinata."

Hinata blinked in mild surprise before sighing in slight relief. Then she shrugged it off and smiled back.

"Oh, yes, of course, come inside."

Kiba stepped inside and he also added quickly with a nervous laugh, "Oh and uh, I brought two others with me; I hope you don't mind the guests…"

"No, no, it's fine-"  
"Hinata!"  
Neji hurried inside and grabbed Hinata by her shoulders and gave her a serious glare as he exclaimed shaking her back and forth, "For whatever these two have to say to you, let me just say so now, THINK clearly before you say anything! Think about who and what you'll be dealing with; PLEASE, you've got to listen to me-"  
Shino marched through the door and grabbed Neji by the back of his coat and dragged him off his cousin and to the side as he nodded to Hinata respectfully.

"Yes, excuse your cousin; he's a bit frantic to convince you otherwise in case you say yes to our request…"

Hinata blinked in puzzlement as Kurenai whispered to her husband, "Cousin…?"

Asuma nodded, reassuring his wife as he retorted, "Don't worry dear; Neji is a good cousin of Hinata's. He won't turn her in to the Hyuugas; besides, he himself was thrown out..."

Kurenai shot the other Hyuuga a worried glare before mumbling, "Alright… I suppose you're right… wait, how did you know about him…?"  
Asuma laughed as he nervously scratched the back of his head, "Oh, yeah, he's a friend of Naruto's and hangs out with Shikamaru and the others; naturally I sort of knew him through Shikamaru…"

"Oh, makes sense now."

Hinata led Kiba and the others to the living room where she sat them down offering tea.

"Ah, no thank you. This should be a brief meeting so I don't think tea is necessary…"  
Hinata shrugged and placed away the pot of tea and sat down before the boys before eyeing them all separately and asking, "Okay then… what do you want to ask from me?"

Shino began once Kiba hesitated, "Well the boys decided that it'd be best that Naruto stay out of the Akatsuki hunting fun. So we need someone to keep Naruto busy and make sure he STAYS busy while we do our work; it'll only be until he's completely healed, then he can join us again."  
Kiba jumped in, "So basically, we're asking for you to stay with him you know? Maybe talk to him, spend some time with him, you know, hangout with him and take care of him. We'll be out of the house most of the time researching and sniffing around so you two will be alone most of the time; and he can get really bored easily, so hopefully with you around he'll control himself from doing anything crazy or stupid…"

Neji then intervened as he began frantically adding, "BUT, but, but, BUT – I HIGHLY recommend to you Hinata to NOT do this."  
Shino and Kiba shot Neji a dirty glare who shot one right back as he continued, "As much as we all love Naruto very much and such, I wouldn't want you to take off time from your writing to babysit for us and nurse Naruto back to health, besides, someone else is going to ask Sakura to do this so if you say no, she'll do it-"

"No, it's fine Neji. I'll do it."

Neji blinked and laughed nervously, "I don't believe you hear yourself right cousin; did you say you would or you wouldn't?"  
"Neji, I understand you're a bit iffy about me hanging out with the opposite gender and all, but don't worry Neji; I can take care of myself and I have a pretty fair judgment. Naruto isn't that kind of person who would dare do anything to me and he's a good man; I'm sure nursing him back to health is of no concern and with no worries."

Neji sputtered as Shino and Kiba smiled, "B-But, Hinata! You seriously can't think about-"  
"Neji, it's FINE."

She gave him a stern look and Neji sighed as he sank back in his seat defeated as he groaned, "Great…"

Kiba clapped his hands smiling as he exclaimed, "Well then! That went better than I hoped! Alright then, we can take you there now, but like we said, it may be a long while before you come back to your home so if you want to pack a few things now…?"  
Hinata looked up at Kurenai and Asuma who smiled at her and nodded, "Go ahead Hinata; this is a good opportunity to… get away from the neighborhood. Just call us every now and then, alright?"

Hinata smiled and stood up and told the boys that she'd be back in a few minutes as she left with Kurenai to go pack her belongings as Asuma walked with the boys back outside to their van where they stood waiting.

Neji looked to Asuma as he asked, "Asuma, sir, has Hinata been alright lately…? She seemed a bit stiff today…"

Asuma shook his head sighing as he glanced around before leaning towards them whispering, "To be honest, things haven't been. I'm pretty sure my wife would kill me if she found out I'm telling you this, so can you three keep a secret?"

Kiba and Shino looked to one another as Neji pressed him on, "About what? What's going on?"

"The Hyuuga Company is rumored to have denounced their heiress – Hanabi was it? – and now they've been sniffing around the neighborhood trying to look for their new heiress, which is Hinata again."

Neji stared in surprise at Asuma before gasping, "What the hell…!? But they've never wanted Hinata in the first place; why switch back now!?"  
Asuma shrugged, just as confused as the boys as he sighed, "I don't know why either. I just know that there's a rumor about it…"

Shino shoved his hands in his coat pockets as he pointed out to Neji, "But remember Neji, Asuma says it's a RUMOR; don't go straightaway assuming this rumor to be the facts when they haven't officially declared it yet."

Neji sighed, his fists relaxing at his sides as he nodded, "Yeah… you're right Shino. I'm just a bit worried now…"

Kiba stroked his chin as he nodded; drinking this in as he added in his thoughts, "So no wonder why Hinata was acting a bit different. Usually she stutters a lot…"  
Neji shot him a dirty glare as Kiba apologetically smiled, "Oh… right, sorry. I meant no offense or anything, just saying… besides, it's a good change!"

Neji shook his head as he also took note of the slight change in his cousin's behavior.

"No… with Hinata, change doesn't come so easily; it must have come with a price…"

Hinata stepped outside with Kurenai helping her carry her bags to the van as the boys helped load the van with her belongings. Then Hinata turned to Kurenai and Asuma and said her farewells.

"I'll be leaving now; I'll be back as soon as Naruto gets well. I'll email you or call you ever so now and then if I can."

Kurenai smiled and squeezed Hinata's hands in hers as she replied, "Be safe Hinata. And don't worry about us; just take care of yourself, alright?"

Hinata smiled and hugged her back, taking a brief moment to hug Asuma goodbye before jumping in the van after the boys. Kiba and the others saluted the two their goodbyes as they started the van and backed out of the driveway. Kurenai linked her arm in Asuma's as she watched the boys drive away, taking Hinata with them and away from the neighborhood. She sighed and he held her hand tightly as he murmured, "Well… do you think it's wise to let her leave the neighborhood?"

Kurenai nodded, sighing she leaned against her husband muttering, "Yes… way safer than letting her stay here. Those Hyuuga dogs are sniffing around here for far too long and I doubt Hinata can last any longer hiding away in her room forever. Sending her out of the neighborhood like this keeps her busy and away from the radar of the Hyuuga men; hopefully…"

The two stood there in silence in the empty driveway before turning to reenter their own home, the silence weighing heavily down on them with the departure of Hinata from their household.

* * *

Sasuke parked his motorcycle out near the pharmacy. He pulled off his helmet and sighed as he shook his head to let his hair fall back in place. A few girls passing by giggled and pointed at him, squealing to one another as Sasuke ran a hand through his hair attractively; though completely oblivious to the phones girls pulled out to capture his image in their phones for eternity. Sasuke glanced up at the pharmacy and sighed as he sat there staring at the posters along her windows displaying her ads and contact information; he could picture the rows and shelves of medicine behind her, the counter where she sat, and the waiting chairs where he'd wait for her. Of course Sasuke knew he had always had a thing for Sakura, though like he always knew and told himself, he placed those thoughts in the far back stowed away since right now his brother was so close… so close he could almost taste the blood that would stain his hands with revenge once he kills Itachi. Finally Sasuke found his mind once again as he stepped off his motorcycle and started for the pharmacy. When he walked up to the door, he realized how dark it was inside. He frowned and glanced at the 'open' sign on her door; why would she turn out the lights? Frowning still he tried opening the door but found it jammed at the other side. After a few more futile tries, he took a step back and kicked the door open; the door swinging open with the chair that had been rammed up against the door clattered to one side as Sasuke stared in surprise at the interiors of her pharmacy – chairs overturned, shelves scattered with overturned bottles and capsules of medicine, and her office…

"Oh my God."

Sasuke dashed inside and ran to the office door, which had its window smashed in, inside the office he looked around in despair at the wreck in her office. Papers were strewn everywhere, her desk and chair overturned, and drawers scattered around; but Sakura was nowhere to be seen.

"Holy sh*t… Sakura! SAKURA!"

Sasuke looked around the entire pharmacy, in shock and puzzlement over the havoc that wrecked the entire pharmacy. He walked back in her pharmacy looking through her overthrown desk and found a note attached on the window pane in the back of her office; he could've easily overlooked it for the drapes that covered it from sight. He snatched the sticky-note and stepped outside to read it in the light; in scrawled letters the message read: _To whoever finds this, I'd assume you're part of Little Fox's group; great. Just the man we need to read this. In case you're wondering, yes, it was me who made the pharmacy look the way it did; she put up quite a fight. But don't worry; the girl is safe and in one piece. We just took her for a moment, you know, to talk. No this is not kidnapping since I entirely intend to let her go after questioning her on a few things… maybe. Depends on what happens later. My point is; she's not here and she's due back to her pharmacy in about three or so days. Just saying, so don't freak out. Oh, and say hi that younger brat of mine, for me. – Akatsuki's Black Crow_

Sasuke crumpled the note in his hand as he glared at the sky hissing in anger.

"Itachi…!"  
He quickly got back on his motorcycle and tore down the road back to where the other boys were; he had to tell someone… he wasn't going to just sit down for three entire days letting his brother do whatever he pleased to Sakura; even if it was just questioning. Whatever the reason Itachi kidnapped Sakura for; he was going to get her back right away.

* * *

Naruto groggily sat up and Lee helped him take a drink of water as he sighed against the back of the bed as he yawned and rubbed his eyes groaning, "Oh God… I slept like a rock! What time is it…?"  
"It's like, six in the afternoon."

"Really? And when did I sleep…?"  
"You slept at around four am."

"Ah… right."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck as he yawned and looked around before frowning.

"Hmm. Where is everyone? Is it only you Lee?"  
Lee shook his head.

"Ah, no, I'm here with Choji and Shikamaru. The others left for a moment…"  
Naruto narrowed his eyes at Lee before asking, "…for what?"  
"To go visit a few people."  
"Like who?"  
"Like Sakura and Hinata."  
"…why?"

Shikamaru stepped inside and intervened, "So that we can assign someone to keep your ass in check while we research the Akatsuki WITHOUT your help."  
Naruto glared at Shikamaru as he exclaimed, "Look Nara, I know you're still mad about me sneaking off at night to research and stuff, but come on! I just want to help!"

Shikamaru crossed his arms and harshly retorted, "Look Uzumaki, we APPRECIATE your help, but with the condition you're in right now, I'm not going to take crap from you trying to support your right to helping us. You'd help us a lot more if you'd heal and stop worrying the sh*t out of us. Think for a moment; you got shot in the chest, not the shoulder like the last time you got shot. You're going to need some real down time to heal completely; until then, please Naruto, stop trying to get involved. You're ruining the group's chances of ever tracking down the Akatsuki if we have to keep turning our backs to you whining and throwing tantrums about how you want to help."

Naruto bit back a retort and a look of offense overshadowed the anger in his eyes as Naruto then surrendered and sighed, leaning back into his pillows with a groan.

"Fine Nara, have it your way… I'll keep in line. So who's my babysitter?"  
"Well Sasuke hasn't called back, so probably not Sakura. Though Kiba just called me a moment ago saying that Hinata agreed to nurse you back to health; so you should expect the Hyuuga girl to be keeping you company while we work on the Akatsuki business."

Naruto remembered Hinata and had his mind jump to that latest memory he had of her; blushed and sighed in he covered his face with his hands.

"Oh God…"  
Shikamaru and Lee exchanged a look and questioned Naruto, "Uh… do you not like Hinata to be around you?"  
"No, no, it's not that; I just remembered something embarrassing with her…"  
Naruto sighed as he pulled his hands away from his face, the blush on his cheeks making Shikamaru and Lee suspiciously stare at him.

"Uh-huh… yeah, I'm not going to ask."

Suddenly they heard the garage door slam open and back shut again, Sasuke staggered into Naruto's room with his hair windblown as he looked around wildly panting heavily.

Naruto straightened up in his seat on the bed and cursed, "Holy mother freaking sh*t man! What happened to you? Run through a tornado!?"  
Sasuke glared straight at Naruto before throwing a slip of paper at his face.

"Shut up Uzumaki; I have a reason for nearly killing myself on my motorcycle to get the hell over here."  
Shikamaru plucked the note from Naruto's bed sheets and scanned the first few sentences before folding it up and handing it to Naruto with a firm murmur, "…this is something YOU should read Naruto – something only you and Sasuke should read."

Naruto fumbled with the note and skimmed its content, paling as he looked up at Sasuke with dismay.

"Holy crap, why would they take Sakura!?"  
Lee's face was slapped with stunned horror as he gasped, "The Akatsuki took Sakura!? Nooo~! Our fair maiden will be ruined by their filthy hands! Why did they take her for…?"  
Sasuke walked around to Naruto's closet and rummaged around the back, throwing aside random articles of Naruto's clothing aside as he hunted for whatever it was he was looking for.

"They want Sakura for questioning. But still, I know Itachi won't do anything to her, but I'm worried about the other Akatsuki members; they might want to have fun with her or inflict injuries on her for fun. I don't want ANY of that to happen to her."  
Naruto watched Sasuke throw a pair of his boxers over his shoulder at the foot of Naruto's bed, as he asked, "Okay… and you want to do what now?"

Sasuke pulled out a metal case and unlocked it and yanked it open. Inside were a few guns that Naruto carried (yes, legally… if you count a forged license 'legal') in case of emergencies – and occasionally when on a stroll to go kill some nasty b*stards…

Sasuke grabbed a handgun and checked the ammo, the sound of metal scraping and bullets clicking in place causing the boys to glance at one another as Sasuke shoved the gun in his belt.

"I'm going after her."

"Excuse me, what?"  
Sasuke ignored Naruto for a moment as he took another gun and investigated its state of being.

"And no Naruto, you're not coming with me; I don't want anyone to come with me. It might get a bit dangerous-"  
"Okay, hold up now Uchiha, answer me this; how the f*ck do you know where they have gone!?"

Sasuke looked up and stopped fiddling with the guns for a moment. The silence stretched uncomfortably among the boys in the room before Sasuke hung his head in an epiphany.

"Oh sh*t… that's right."  
Naruto slapped himself as he groaned, "Oh my God Sasuke, you're so stupid sometimes! You're always like this; whenever something bad happens you don't bothering thinking!"  
Sasuke glared at Naruto as he sat back with the gun set aside.

"Oh shut up Uzumaki, you're the one who always yells screaming and running into a fight without any second thoughts; at least I can stop myself and think before I act!"

"Yeah, you're really not in the position to say that to me right now since you were about to go rush off to save Sakura when you don't even know where the hell you were supposed to!"

" Guys, guys! Stop fighting and let's think this through!"

Naruto and Sasuke turned away from bickering at one another as they stared at Shikamaru who folded his hands and eyed the two before continuing, "Okay. Sasuke, I'll have Kiba and Shino work on finding out the Akatsuki's location; I'd assume the pharmacy is the 'crime scene' so I'll have them work on that – you know how those two are, freaking mystery breakers. I'll look into a few possible locations they could have stowed Sakura away in, and of course, you do whatever you think is best for now. Once we find where she is, we'll let you do your job. But if you ever need help, call one of us in. Now as for YOU Naruto," Shikamaru pointed to Naruto accusingly as he sharply and quickly added, "YOU will be HERE. You will NOT leave the house, you will NOT try to help with the situation at hand, and you will NOT bother worrying about Sakura's welfare because we've got this covered. So don't think about sneaking out in the middle of the night to hunt around for her because I will hide all the car keys – that includes your motorcycle! – and I'm going to lock you in your room every night. Even your windows. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you here Uzumaki; do you understand?"

Naruto stared at Shikamaru in disbelief before yelling back, "Oh my God; SAKURA IS F*CKING KIDNAPPED AND YOU WANT ME TO DO **WHAT!? **TO SIT BACK AND SUCK ON MY THUMB IN THIS ROOM DOING ABSOLUTELY **NOTHING **ABOUT IT?!"

"Yup."  
"Nara, I will so kill you-"

Suddenly the door swung open and in marched an angry looking Hyuuga as the boys watched her storm over and grab Naruto by his shirt and slap him – hard.

Kiba and the others ran in the room before Kiba heard and witnessed the slap and cringed, "Holy sh*t, that's gotta sting…!"

Hinata glared at Naruto as he turned to stare at Hinata in utter surprise.

"H-Hinata!"

"Naruto, please, listen to your friends! Do you really think you're in any position to help them find this Sakura?"

She placed a firm hand on his chest where his bandages were underneath his shirt as she hissed, "Think Naruto, think! You were shot in the chest; SHOT in the CHEST. A man nearly killed you in the hospital massacre, and you're even going as far to deprive yourself from your sleep, so I've heard from the boys – why are you so ill considerate of your own physical condition!?"

Hinata's hands tightened around his shirt as she raised her voice, "WHY ARE YOU!?"

"Hinata! That's enough! Get off Naruto!"

Neji hurried over and grabbed Hinata, his arm around her waist as he pulled her away. She let him pull her to one side as she sighed and resumed her natural composure. Naruto sat stunned with the sting of her slap still lingering on his face; he hung his head before hiding his face in his hands muttering to everyone, "Fine… I'll be the good boy you all seem to so desperately need me to be… I'll just stay here…"

Shikamaru looked around at the boys before walking up to Naruto, placing a heavy hand on his shoulder and muttered, "Thank you Naruto; it's much appreciated. Hinata will be here to watch you so… if you need anything just tell her."

Naruto nodded silently, his face still in his hands as the boys started to stand and leave the room. Hinata watched them all leave and jumped in startled surprise when Sasuke grabbed her arm and hissed to her in a low whisper, "I must say, that was quite a show there. I'll give you credit for slapping some sense in him. But let me just warn you; when Naruto sets his mind on something, he'll usually do whatever it takes to achieve that. I doubt locked doors and windows is enough to keep him in and I doubt he'd listen to what anyone has to say; Sakura was his good friend as she was for me and of course he'd naturally want to jump out of bed and help us, so I need you to do your best to keep him busy. Anything is fine; just do something so he keeps his mind off Sakura and the Akatsuki. Please? I'm counting on you."

Hinata blinked in surprise before looking over her shoulder to Naruto who was still covering his face with his hands in his own misery.

"Of course… I'll do what I must."

Sasuke patted her roughly on the shoulder in gratitude as he nodded, "Great. I'll be placing my trust in you then."  
Then he left the room and Hinata closed the door as she sighed and glanced over to Naruto – her hand still tingling where she had slapped him. She hadn't meant to make it hurt, just enough to get him to stop thinking for a moment. When she arrived to the house and stood outside his door, she had heard about the dilemma that they were facing and was outraged to hear Naruto's stubbornness to listen to his closest friends' requests. It angered her so much that she went as far as to slapping him; though if this happened before she changed her attitude in life, she would've most likely walked in shyly asking him honestly to stop – which probably wouldn't have the same effect as to slapping him and yelling at him to pull himself together. Though Hinata was slowly finding herself and what gave her confidence, she was still reluctant to do things out of her usual character; slapping people was something she would've never have done. But she did… and it was scaring her at how much she allowed herself to step out of line.

"Hinata… can you come here for a second?"

Hinata jolted, his voice scaring her out of her thoughts as she stood there staring at Naruto who still had his head down.

"M-Me?"  
"Yes you, come here."

Cautiously she inched over and stood awkwardly at his side as she waited for him to do something – or say something. He lifted his face from his hands and sighed as he closed his eyes and leaned back against his pillows for a few seconds. Then he reopened them and turned his head to gaze at Hinata before asking, "Hinata… do you think my friends are right…? That I should stop overexerting myself…? All I wanted was to help Hinata; do you think I should listen to what they have to say?"

Hinata blinked in mild surprise before laughing nervously as she wrung her hands together, "Why are you asking me such a question…? After all, I just slapped you and yelled at you to listen to them… I think that says it all."

Naruto shook his head, looking up at her as he sighed, "No, I want your honest opinion; and not giving me a slap would be much appreciated this time."

Hinata nodded and pulled up a chair as she sat next to his bedside with a sigh.

"Well let's see… to be honest, I don't know much about what you and your gang were quarreling over, but from what Kiba, Shino and Neji briefed me on, was that basically they're trying to find another gang and they don't want you helping until you've healed. But they said that you've been disobedient and always overexerting your physical condition by depriving yourself of your sleep. To be honest… your friends aren't saying all of this because they think you're a nuisance or that you're disturbing the process of their little hunt should I call it, no… I think they're saying this of course, because they're genuinely concerned for your life Naruto."  
Naruto blinked as Hinata cracked a small smile.

"I remember when we all ran to the emergency room where you were being performed on with an emergency surgery, and this girl… the girl named Sakura I believe? She was crying and screaming at Sasuke for not having done something about this. Sasuke was in morbid shock of course; you could almost read the regret in his eyes that things had led to this. Everyone else, all of them… worried sick. Kiba of course spent most of his time in the waiting rooms kicking chairs and screaming curse words at the vending machines. Shikamaru always left the room to be alone – presumably to grieve alone, away from peering eyes. Shino and Neji gloomily spent their time praying for your welfare and Lee and Choji were depressed for a while – even Choji I believe, he stopped eating at one point…"

Hinata reached over and took Naruto's hand in hers as she smiled at him.

"But Naruto, my point is; your friends obviously care for you. They would never tell you something to hurt you or put you down. Most of all, Shikamaru only wants you to think about yourself for a moment. You're extremely selfless Naruto; which is a good quality to have, but how can you expect to help others if you yourself aren't in the best condition?"  
Naruto stared at Hinata as she added, "Therefore Naruto… I do believe you should listen to your friends. Your friends risked so much trying to save you from many dangers and work hard to keep you alive; because they're your friends and your family – they don' t want you to kill yourself in the process of trying to benefit the group. Which is why you should rest and take their request to heart; besides, listening to what your friends say will benefit the group as a whole – they'll be able to work on finding the Akatsuki while you're resting. Once you heal… then you can rejoin them again. But for now, you should just listen to what they tell you to do."

Hinata shrugged before looking at Naruto in the eyes, "At least this is why I believe you should do…"

Naruto sat there stunned for a few seconds before suddenly tightening his grip around Hinata's hands and yanking her towards him. She collapsed forward on his chest, half on and off his bed as she stammered, "N-Naruto-!"  
"Thank you Hinata; you've convinced me to listen to my friends now."  
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, content with just hugging her in gratitude as he smiled in her hair.

"Thank you…"

"Um, yeah, y-you're welcome. Now if you could just, you know, let me sit back down…?"  
"Can you just stay still for a moment? You're killing the mood by making it all seem awkward…"

"O-oh… okay?"  
She fell silent in his arms as he sighed, the silence thinning longer and longer before Naruto sighed and released her.

"Too late, it just got awkward."

Hinata laughed nervously as she quickly sat back in her seat, the laugh dying on her lips as the awkwardness settled in. Finally Naruto sighed and mumbled, "Ah geez… okay, we need to do something get the awkwardness to leave. Have any ideas on what to do to keep me busy?"

Hinata shrugged, unsure of what to do as she frowned, "I don't know…"

Naruto then remembered something as he rested his chin in his hands smiling at her as he asked, "Ah, now I remember what I was going to ask you; tell me more about your books. Though I may not be such an avid reader, I'm interested to know what sort of books you write."

Hinata thoughtfully gazed at the ceiling in deep thought as she mumbled, "Oh well… for starters my books take a long time to explain…"  
Naruto laughed and gave her a grin, "Well I don't think I'm going to be leaving this room in a long time; might as well eat up the boredom now by telling me the extensive description of your books."

Hinata smiled, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear as she cleared her throat nervously.

"Alright then… are you sure you want to listen?"  
Naruto nodded, and Hinata folded her hands, sighed and opened her mouth to start talking when they heard a loud knock at the front door. Naruto frowned as he listened to one of the boys in the living room get up and unlock the front door to answer it.

"Now who the hell…?"

There was a loud shout of surprise and a series of voices shouting and laughing with glee as they shouted, "Oh God, Kakashi! Iruka! Guy! My God, it's great to see you guys again!"

Naruto brightened and Hinata paled.

"Holy sh*t! My old teachers are here!"  
Naruto turned to look at Hinata and the smile left his face as he stared at her with puzzlement, "Hinata? What's wrong?"  
Hinata clutched the edges of her chair as her knuckles turned white, her expression dead pan as she breathed, "Oh God… no, no, no, no, no…"

"Hinata, what's wrong? Tell me Hinata!"

He grabbed her hand and she looked to Naruto with fear as she gasped, "Those men; they're from the Hyuuga Company. You need to hide me!"

"What? What are you talking about-"  
"I need to hide!"  
"Why-"  
"If they find me, they'll take me back to my father! Please Naruto, help me hide!"

She stood from her seat, her face evolving into horror as she heard Kiba cheerfully chirp outside the door, "He's in here! Yeah, he got shot in the chest so he's recovering, but don't worry, he's as fit as a fiddle…"

Naruto quickly thought of something and beckoned Hinata closer as he struggled to sit up in bed.

"Sh*t, come here then Hinata, I know where you can hide."

* * *

**Yay! You've reached the end of Chapter 9! Hmm... I can imagine how you're reacting; many of you might be like, "Uhh... what the h*ll did I just read?" I do think this chapter almost makes close to zero sense; possibly. But I didn't want to spend any more time re-doing the entire chapter because everyone is waiting so patiently for it, so I decided to throw this out there and just hope for the best. (Normally I would NOT do this because as I know how that can hurt a good storyline... T^T Forgive me!) Anyway, I think most of you will be iffy about Hinata's changed personality; I think it was awkward to try and find a way to create Hinata a new personality as she goes along the story, though this was a dramatic change like literally, just over a few hours and such, I feel like I may have killed the drama. T^T I probably did and I'm so depressed right now at how poorly made this chapter was. I have the feeling most of you will give me reviews questioning many parts of the chapter, so I will take them all with a full heart since this chapter is my work and of course, I must hold responsibility for my horrible efforts. I apologize - again.**

**However despite all of this, I will do my best to try HARDER to put more effort and create a storyline that you - the readers - will enjoy. I know how much it sucks to read a potentially good story and suddenly have it killed in the middle, so I hope this doesn't happen to this story in particular so I will need your support! So please, don't feel afraid to leave a review pointing out something or giving me a positive OR negative feedback about the chapter. It all helps in various ways and I appreciate it all; so please review! Also, there's a poll on my profile - and like usual - please take the poll if you already haven't. It's the same one regarding a third story in case you were wondering. So keep reviewing, taking my polls, and supporting my stories in anyway you can - like favoriting, following, or reviewing. 'Cause I promise you folks; IT ALL REALLY, REALLY HELPS. REALLY. And I appreciate it all; your voices are very important to me and I like how fanfiction allows the others to comment on the stories as it sees fit, it's very helpful and supportive. Thank you all and I'll see you in chapter 10! XD**


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